‘Aged Is a Construct’: The Day Whiskey Fans Have Been Waiting Arrives as Maker’s Mark Announces Cask-Strength Bourbon With a Double-Digit Age Statement

Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged is the brand’s oldest whiskey to date.

On Wednesday, the prayers of whiskey fans across America were answered as Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon was unveiled.

A blend of 11- and 12-year-old Bourbon (87% 12-year and 13% 11-year), Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged is the distillery’s oldest whiskey to date. Bottled at a cask strength proof of 115.7, this release arose from Maker’s Mark’s desire to answer the question “What if age isn’t just about time, but instead about how you use that time to evolve, develop and mature?” the brand said in a news release.

Maker’s Mark says it has always aged its whiskeys “to taste – not time” for the sake of producing bourbon that is soft, smooth and not overly oaky, as too much aging can make whiskeys bitterly tannic and astringent.

“For more than 65 years, aging our whisky for a decade-plus wasn’t something we did,” Rob Samuels, eighth-generation whisky maker and grandson of the founders of Maker’s Mark, said in a news release. “It’s not that we didn’t believe in it; we simply hadn’t found a way to do it that didn’t compromise on our taste vision – until now. Cellar Aged embodies an older whisky that’s distinctly Maker’s Mark. One rooted in challenging convention, delivering new flavor experiences from the environment that surrounds us, and building on a taste vision that’s been generations in the making.”

With Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon, however, the producer believes it has cracked the code for an extra-aged whiskey without tannic bite. Maker’s Mark aged this whiskey for about six years in the distillery’s traditional bourbon warehouses and then moved the barrels into its whiskey cellar for an additional five to six years of aging. Maker’s Mark says that the cellar’s “consistently cool” environment slows the process of whiskey absorbing tannins, making for a well-aged whiskey that retains the classic smooth, soft, sweet profile for which Maker’s Mark is renowned.

Aged is a construct.

That’s why we didn’t simply put our Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged in our limestone cellar for an arbitrary number of years. We only bottled it once it reached our flavor vision. The result is a toast to the experiences that shape us even more than our age. pic.twitter.com/gRIYO9FTk8

— Maker’s Mark (@MakersMark) August 16, 2023

Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon will be an annual, limited release available for a suggested retail price of $150. It will launch in September in the U.S. in October in London, Munich and select global travel retail outlets; and in early 2024 in Tokyo and Singapore.

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