Maker's Mark Private Selection Bourbon

🅱️ Maker’s Mark Private Selection Dual review of NCBS (North Carolina Bourbon Society) ith the 0-1-3-3-3 stave profile @ 109.0 proof & Lake Wylie Liquor with 2-4-0-4-0 @ 110.7 proof 🥃 🎉🥃 BIG NEWS, BOURBON FAMILY! 🥃🎉 Thanks again for stopping by—be sure to Like, Comment, and SUBSCRIBE if you’re as thirsty for bourbon content as I am for, well…bourbon. Tonight’s Pour is Special. Why? Because I’m officially a certified Bourbon Steward through the Stave & Thief Society! 🧠📚🥃 That’s right—I passed the exam, earned the pin, and leveled up my bourbon game. I’ve always loved the amber nectar, but now I love it with science and structure. To celebrate, I’m diving into not one, but TWO delicious pours from the Maker’s Mark Private Selection series—both double-oaked beauties that took a trip through the limestone cellar and came out wearing a whole new wardrobe of flavor. ⸻ 🥇First up: North Carolina Bourbon Society (NCBS) Selection Stave Profile: 0-1-3-3-3 🔹 Proof: 109.0 This one’s our local pride and joy. Think sweet caramel, a kiss of vanilla, a swirl of spice—and maybe just a little high-five from a toasted marshmallow. It’s warm, welcoming, and very NCBS. ⸻ 🐨Second pour: “A Warm Hug from a Koala” – Lake Wylie Liquors Stave Profile: 2-4-0-4-0 🔹 Proof: 110.7 Yes, it’s as cozy and curious as it sounds. This pour leans into the toasty and nutty side with French flair—like sipping dessert in an oak-lined cabin with a charming marsupial. 🐾 ⸻ 🔍 Quick Bourbon Nerd Note: Maker’s Mark Private Selections start life as fully matured Maker’s Cask Strength. Then, ten staves are chosen from a flavor matrix of five stave types. These are inserted into the barrel and rested for 9 extra weeks in the cool, calm limestone cellar. The result? A bourbon symphony between 108–114 proof—each bottle a one-of-a-kind flavor fingerprint. Here are your stave flavor Avengers:    •   BP (Baked American Pure): Brown Sugar, Vanilla, Caramel, Spice, Honey 🍯    •   Cu (Seared French Cuvée): Toasty Oak, Caramel, Almond 🌰    •   46 (Maker’s 46): Dried Fruit, Vanilla, Spice 🍒    •   Mn (Roasted French Mendiant): Milk Chocolate, Nuts, Coffee, Dried Fruit ☕    •   Sp (Toasted French Spice): Bold Smoke, Clove, Orange Peel, Exotic Spice 🔥🍊 ⸻ 📣 Whether you’re into the bold, the sweet, or the toasty, these Maker’s Private Selections offer a delicious chance to dial in your flavor journey. And hey, if you haven’t tried one yet—consider this your official nudge. Until next time—raise your glass, hug a koala (responsibly), and remember: Life’s too short for bad bourbon. My YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@belmontbjornsbourbonbanter?si=SouI4HradDkgzVsW Full video review of both of these bottles: 🅱️ Maker’s Mark Private Selection NCBS 0-1-3-3-3 @ 109.0 & Lake Wylie Liquor 2-4-0-4-0 @ 110.7 🥃 https://youtu.be/maJHGzt3pec Cheers, y’all! 🥃 Belmont Björn - BBBB -

It’s fall (ish). Bourbon feels like fall for whatever reason. Maybe it’s the baking spices…In any instance, I picked this bottle up sometime ago and I’ve had a hard time pinning it down. These Makers PS bottles are seemingly everywhere, but are they worth $70-80, significantly more (statistically or otherwise) than Makers 46, 101, or CS? Here we go… I confess, I bought this on a whim. I was in Kentucky at the Makers distillery last year. Lovely tour, beautiful grounds, ok tasting at the end. They have an entire warehouse area they blasted into a limestone hillside to create space for the stave finishing and 46 program. The barrel room there in a literal cave they blasted out and contains the Makers Private Select barrels ageing for all the respective customers around the country. It’s an impressive setup and I’d upload pictures if Distiller would let us. When I got home to my (former) domicile in Texas, I picked up a local store pick because the tour guide said Makers was going to stop using the French mocha staves due to high demand for those and FOMO got the best of me. Anyways, the bourbon. Letting it rest, I get turtle brownies on the nose. Rich, aromatic oak with a subtle undercurrent of allspice and clove. Oxidation has been VERY kind to this bottle. Originally it was hot and grassy on the nose like most Makers CS I’ve tried. Now all the dessert notes are revealing themselves with time and patience. I really digging this tonight. On the palate it carries over all those baking chocolate and caramel notes with a full, creamy coating mouthfeel (phrasing…boom). At first bottle pop the proof was on full display, but it’s much more mellow now, giving a gentle numbing sensation and a slow, lingering Kentucky hug that feels like your first slow dance in middle school you never wanted to end. I’m into this. Because of the Frankenstein-ish stave finishing alchemy Makers does to these, your mileage may vary, but time, patience, and oxidation have really awakened this bottle (picture with exact stave info included). I will finish this and take a flier on another store pick when it’s done. These don’t exactly fly off the shelf like Buffalos and Turkeys do, so there’s probably one near you. If you get one at the distillery, you even get to dip it in the red wax if that’s the sort of thing you’re into. Is it worth the premium? I say yes. I’ve had the whole Makers lineup over the years, and I’ll say this for them, they’re consistent. Never before though have I had such a dynamic pour from them that showed so much evolution as I worked through the bottle. Highly recommend. Cheers!

Been eager to try this and have only heard good things. Was fortunate enough to snag this bad boy on sale. So here it goes. Review based on 2nd pour - day after trying the neck pour. Nose: fruity, brown sugar, vanilla, do I smell char/oak? Taste: vanilla/sweet, then hits with a balanced oaky flavor that lingers a bit. First time tasting a bourbon that’s more oak forward Finish: medium to long lasting finish. Tastes of oak and char. Warms up coming down Overall: very good and enjoyable. I could sip this on the daily. Being my first oak forward bourbon, it’s a flavor profile I’d need to get used to. Pleasantly surprised that Makers fields something like this. Granted my last Makers was in college and I took shots of it. Overall, happy to get this on sale (50$), but not sure if I’ll get at full price elsewhere (typically 75 plus around me). Rating: 6.5/10- t8ke scale 1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out. 2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice. 3 | Bad | Multiple flaws. 4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists. 5 | Good | Good, just fine. 6 | Very Good | A cut above. 7 | Great | Well above average. 8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional. 9 | Incredible | An all time favorite. 10 | Perfect | Perfect.

Many retailers select custom barrels in the Maker's Mark Private Selection series; this one is "Bev Max Edition #1", stave profile 1-2-2-4-1, bottled at 109.5 proof in February 2021. Very similar clear reddish mahogany color to the Maker's 46 that immediately preceded it. The nose is more focused and less plush than the MM46, showing carrot cake, butter pecan ice cream, Golden Grahams cereal, a whiff of molasses, and a dusty note. The wood jumps out on the palate, which has a wonderful, oily mouthfeel where the flavors explode, buoyed by the higher proof, which is well-integrated. Loads of vanilla on the finish which lingers like a long country road. 4.25 on the Distiller scale. I don't recall the price I paid for this--perhaps $60?--and while these Private Selection bottles aren't as polished as some of the other MM wood-staved products (FAE-01 and -02, BRT-01 and -02) in my experience, they're always reliable, and unique given the custom stave profile, offering a differentiated drinking experience. N.B.: All spirits tasted neat in a Glencairn glass.

“Chocolate Cherry Luxe” @ 108.5p Fresh crack first pour Nose: (after letting it breathe for about 20min) True to its name, savory and delectable notes of cherries and dark chocolate waft through first, followed by more mellow notes of the classic MM burnt caramel. Faint hints of wheat, vanilla, and fruit dance around in the background as well. Honestly, I’m impressed at how complex this is for being a MM product, every time I take a whiff I get something new. Palate: Unfortunately, the flavor isn’t as amazing as the nose leads on. Again, I get hints of cherries and dark chocolate however it seems that everything else just gets muddled together into this lump of indiscernible flavors. Finish: The finish, which is enjoyable and quite long, leaves your tongue tingling with savory chocolate. Ultimately, I hope to come back to this bottle in a few weeks and have more of the complexity from the nose show up on the palate. As for now, it’s a good pour but falls short of great.

Five Star Wine and Liquor President’s Day Pick Nose - Bright candied cherry. Like as if maraschino cherries sat in the barrel. Slight hint of leather very bright oakiness. Hints of vanilla. Little bit of toasted char. Palate - More leather, more oak, and an addition of walnuts. The walnut flavor is subtly sweet giving illusions to candied walnuts. The feel is very bright and light, careful not to overburden your mouth with so much denseness. Toasted sugar is also there, like eating just the top of a creme bru le. Minimals amount of caramel here and there. Finish - Finish is warm, near perfect for where a finish should be….in my opinion. It lasts for a moderate time and provides this comfortable warmth in you. On the way down it is complimented with more hints of leather, oak, and vanilla.