BOTM 11/14: Maker's Mark Cask Strength

[fishnbowljoe]

Once again, I'm a little late. So, what else is new?

FWIW, I usually try not to do a BOTM for something quite so new, but I figured that MMCS is starting to pop up at a few places, and some members have been able to purchase it either at the MM gift shop, or in a few store. That being said, I thought I'd go ahead and give it a whirl.

Below are my notes from the MMCS thread.

I think it's pretty darned good. There's a sweetness on entry, but not overly so. It's something akin to cotton candy or candy corn. At mid palate it warms up nicely with some caramel and vanilla showing itself. The overall mouthfeel is fairly rich and surprisingly viscous. The finish is nice and long with the warmness continuing. Good stuff IMHO.

I am fully aware that there is some conjectire about availability and pricing. The BOTM forum isn't the place to debate pricing, and/or whether or not some places may be price gouging, etc…. This thread is basically for tasting notes. How do you like it? I hate to beat a dead horse, :deadhorse: but any posts even remotely belittling Maker's Mark, distributors and/or stores that may be taking advantage of things will be deleted. Please don't voice your frustrations here. That being said….

What do y'all think about Maker's Mark Cask Strength?

Cheers, and happy posting! Joe

[bourbonfoot]

I'll chime in! I got my bottle shipped last week with the HW Midwinter Night's Dram and the new PHC and this was the first thing I popped open. I'm not going to find my comments in the other thread, but I remember liking this a lot, but thinking the extra proof made the relative youth of the bourbon more noticeable. Not that it was bad, quite the opposite. I find it much better than regular Maker's, and I hope they "find some stock" :RE to make this available a bit more.

[jvd99]

Agreed that the cask strength is better than the regular offerings. I had a 46 open when I got my CS and the higher proof clearly helped put it over the top while still retaining a classic MM profile.

[El Vino]

Like jvd^^, I had a bottle MM 46 open, so it was natural to do a SBS with MM Cask strength. While it may be obvious, the addition of water just turns down the volume across the nose, palate and finish. To my taste, the water adds nothing positive to the experience. MMCS is simply more intense. If 60% of your sense of taste comes from your sense of smell, the nose on the cask strength version is sweet in a sugary kind of way with nice barrel elements and a touch of heat. The palate of the cask strength follows the nose. It has great mouth feel and intensity. The finish lingers nicely with just the right amount of burn. The nose on the MM46 is muted. On the palate, the water brings out more wood and a clearer alcohol burn. Strange, but it is what I got. The fish is just shorter with less intensity. If the Cask Strength were widely available at a fair price, it would be the only MM product I would ever buy.

[Kpiz]

I was finally able to spend some time with this over the weekend. I'm not a big fan of regular MM, my main complaint being that it is pretty dull. My hope was that the extra proof and (possibly) age on this would give it the boost it needed.

This really tastes like what it is: regular MM dialed up a notch. It has some light brown sugar, cinnamon, and saw dust. Like El Vino, I found the palate and the nose provide the same offerings and water didn't do too much for it. One interesting thing to note is that I kept getting a hint of something bigger and better coming about on the palate, but then the tide of flavor would ebb and nothing new would emerge. Not sure if that's the whiskey's problem or my tongue's.

Overall I liked this more than the other MM offerings, and I have no regrets about my purchase, but I'll have to drink some more to decide whether I want another. And it's quite possible that it will have disappeared from shelves by then.

[bin31z]

Sweet corn, biscuit, cinnamon snickerdoodle cookie, high fructose corn syrup, buttery caramel hard candy. Mild and sweet on the palate, finishes warm and sweet, lingers. Almost no woody notes at all, a SBS with Weller 12 shows the difference that years in the barrel makes on a wheater. Would be very interested in an extra aged version of the cask strength.

[GOCOUGS2002]

I find myself visiting these threads to live vicariously through you; I had to bunker my collection back in the states while I'm in Germany! Thanks for the descriptions, makes me look forward to reuniting with my stash in a couple years.

[FlounderinDC]

Man, I really want to try this. Hope to find some on the east coast during the holidays.

[zillah]

I opened up my MMCS last night and I am a bit disappointed. Other than a really nice mouthfeel, I thought it was too dry and too much resinous oak for my tastes. Something happened with Maker's whiskies where I just don't get that sweet fruitiness and creaminess from it anymore that makes, at least in my mind, wheated bourbons so desirable. I'll reserve judgement though, perhaps it just needs to open up a bit or I got a bad batch. Its not like it is bad or anything, but at $32 for 375ml, I really expected more. Much more.

[jaycamm]

I think the move might be to vat the CS with some 46.

[dcbt]

I think the move might be to vat the CS with some 46.

I recently vatted MMCS with BT and EW1783 in equal parts to create a four grain, and I thought the results were exceptional.

[cbus]

I snagged a bottle on my last trip to kentucky. Very, very tasty.

[boneuphtoner]

Just picked up a bottle of this and my first impression is that it is fantastic. Lots of warm cinnamon and vanilla. I'm going to side-by-side this with WLW and Pappy 15, the only other two wheaters I ever really loved. Since I like regular Maker's a good deal more than any of the Wellers (except for WLW), I am betting it will hold its own at the least against these.

[Hop]

Second pour of this and surprisingly I'm getting a fair amount to of corn flavor coming through

[zillah]

Tried a second pour tonight for second try, this time in a tumbler so it opens up better. Much better than my last pour. Lots of vanilla and maple syrup. Sweet on the palate with a good balance of oak spice in the back-end. Nice and thick chewey, mouthfeel. Not hot but a nice deep finish of chocolate cordial. This is some good stuff.

[ChainWhip]

I thought there was a shortage? The stuff is everywhere now.

[boneuphtoner]

Just picked up a bottle of this and my first impression is that it is fantastic. Lots of warm cinnamon and vanilla. I'm going to side-by-side this with WLW and Pappy 15, the only other two wheaters I ever really loved. Since I like regular Maker's a good deal more than any of the Wellers (except for WLW), I am betting it will hold its own at the least against these.

I am more and more impressed with this stuff. In side-by-sides with the only two wheaters I really dig (WLW and PVW15), the MMCS held its own except for the nose.

[t44tq]

I guess the general consensus is that MMCS is pretty good stuff.

I have to be the outlier, then, because I thought it was pretty bad. Very woody character, very hot. I had one pour of it and I was done. I wouldn't drink it again. I wonder if there are multiple batches and how much variance there is between them?

PA just got a boatload of this stuff in, although it's probably sold out by now.

[ChainWhip]

I guess the general consensus is that MMCS is pretty good stuff.

I have to be the outlier, then, because I thought it was pretty bad. Very woody character, very hot. I had one pour of it and I was done. I wouldn't drink it again. I wonder if there are multiple batches and how much variance there is between them?

PA just got a boatload of this stuff in, although it's probably sold out by now.

What batch & ABV is yours? (Difficult to find if you previously posted this on my mobile)

[mosugoji64]

Had my first pour of this Saturday night and enjoyed it quite a bit. As expected, the flavor was bolder than standard MM but also seemed to round out what is lacking in their regular whiskey and is more like M46. I also got a big, grassy finish that I don't get from the others. Don't know if I'll grab another given the price, but it's good.

[kjbeggs]

I can take or leave regular MM, but I really like the CS. I'm on my third bottle, and haven't found any of the strong corn or overly woody/hot characteristics others have noted.

Guess i need to check my bottles and see what proof they are.

[t44tq]

What batch & ABV is yours? (Difficult to find if you previously posted this on my mobile)

Sorry chainwhip, I never got the batch or proof. A friend brought it to our regular hangout and a bunch of us polished it off. It was whatever hit NJ, if anyone here knows what that was. As I mentioned in my initial post, unless there is a big variance among batches, it's really just not my thing.

[dcbt]

Sorry chainwhip, I never got the batch or proof. A friend brought it to our regular hangout and a bunch of us polished it off. It was whatever hit NJ, if anyone here knows what that was. As I mentioned in my initial post, unless there is a big variance among batches, it's really just not my thing.

I don't think there is much variance, at least not between batches 1 (113.2) and 2 (113.3). Haven't seen batches 3+ yet.

[kjbeggs]

All of mine are (were)113.2

I'll have to look for the batch 2, and see if I can make out any difference. (Because, I'm a giver and willing to drink more bourbon in service to my fellow man).

[ChainWhip]

Batch 4 in WA state