Maker's Mark Wood Finishing Series 2022 BRT-01

I've bought the Maker's Wood Finishing Bourbons since I knew they existed. This means that I missed the 2019 bottling. But I have a bottle of the 2020 as well as both 2021s and both 2022s. The only one I've opened and tried so far has been the second 2020 FAE-02, and after finishing it, I liked it so much I went out and bought another bottle. I've long been a Maker's guy. They're likely my favorite bourbon brand, and selling their special releases for $59.99, well, that gives me a loyalty to them that I don't have for the brands whose releases just keep getting jacked up. I opened this tonight to have something special for Christmas Eve. I also opened John Paul Christmas Whisky last Saturday to have a special Christmas dram, but I opted for the Maker's tonight as the last thing I'd have before my wife and I put presents under the tree. Of course, I still have to read The Polar Express to my kids, and usually, I'd be doing that now, but my dad isn't quite ready for his yearly jingling of the bells outside our window. This is a tradition my grandfather did for me and my siblings when I was a kid, and my dad does it for my kids. We coordinate him standing under the window while I'm reading my kids stories for the night and I crack the window, and he jingles the bells and my kids think it's Santa going by. I love it. My daughter is aging out. This may be the last year he does it, but at least, he's spry and after jingling them he gets away. It ended with my grandpa when my brother ran out front and caught him trying to slip off. As for the Maker's BT 01, it's good. And it should damn well be given how they made us wait for this. Last year, when they released the FAEs, the first came in spring and the second in fall. This year, they both dropped in fall, and I was actually wondering if maybe I'd just missed the first. The simplest review I could give for this is: Maker's Mark does Eagle Rare at a higher proof. Because the nose and palate are a lot like Eagle Rare but better because of the higher proof. The nose is dark berries: blackberries and blueberries. With a hit of dark chocolate and a touch of saddle leather and tobacco with maybe some black coffee in the mix. All in all, it's a lovely nose, but I'd heard this described as lighter than BRT 02, and it doesn't feel at all like a light whiskey to me. On the palate the berry flavors continue and they come on strong. The chocolate and coffee mix close together to make it feel like a cocoa laced coffee and the finish is nice and long and spicy with mainly the coffee taste lingering. For some reason, I keep putting off opening these. Because of my love of Maker's, they definitely feel like special occasion bourbons. And since my brother-in-law and my dad, who are the main people I drink whisky with, prefer other styles to bourbon, I generally save the special bourbons for special occasions when they're not around. This is definitely worlds better than the Jack Bonded, which is the last bourbon I rated here and the last bourbon I finished, knocking the last of it back last night so that I had room on the shelf to open this. I really look forward to Maker's releasing these, and it rounds off what was a lovely evening with my wife's sister and her husband and their daughter and my mom and dad and my sister gathering around to eat baked ziti, have deserts and watch the Eagles lose a close one (don 't worry, they beat our backup by 6; I get the feeling the Cowboys can't keep up with our team if we have our starter in, but I give props to the Cowboys for a game well-played). And now, well, tomorrow, my kids will wake me at 6 a.m. and we'll sit around watching TV and listening to carols and maybe I'll pour the Paul John then and give you a Christmas day review. The Paul John 2020 Christmas dram is also lovely, but not quite as hearty or robust as this. But what it lacks in heartiness or robustness, it makes up for in its citric qualities and peat hints. But I'm getting ahead of myself. That's a different review. Just remember, if this is too long to read the whole thing and you scrolled down and skipped to the end: Maker's BRT 01 is Maker's doing Eagle Rare with a higher proof and more intense flavors. That pretty much sums this up. If it's not sold out, I'm gonna try to get my hands on another bottle. Ah, fuck, they're out of stock. Guess I'll just have to enjoy this bottle while it lasts.

Maker’s does a really nice job with these annual releases. The 2020 was my favorite, but the 1st 2021 release was also excellent. I’ll be knocking out both of the 2022 releases in a relatively short span of time, but I figured I’d start with 01. Nose: Toffee, brown sugar, caramel, malt, nougat, and mocha. (Very) ripe banana and orange citrus. Toasted almond and cashew. There’s even something akin to orange meringue. Red hot tamales. Cinnamon, white pepper, clove, nutmeg, and oak. Palate: Vanilla, brown sugar, toffee, caramel. Classic Maker’s cherry pops in a big way, accompanied by more or that orange citrus. Banana again, not quite as overripe as the nose, accompanied my some caramelized apple. Cola. Plum skin. Almond and walnut. Peanut brittle. Graham cracker and marshmallow. Red hot tamales. Crispy bacon. Cinnamon, white pepper, clove, nutmeg, and oak. Finish: Toffee, vanilla, brown sugar, and caramel. Orange meringue and ripe banana. Mocha. Raisin. Dried apricot. Crispy bacon. Red hot tamale. Cinnamon, ginger, white peppper, clove, nutmeg, and oak. Long as they make them. Another absolute winner. This is just an amazing bourbon, no way around it. It’s why I continue to return to the Maker’s well for their annual releases. You can’t beat the quality and the value. This beats last year’s first release and ties the 2020. Speaking of value, this gets a little boost for VFM. This ran me $70, which is the cheapest I can find any annual release whisky out there. Bar none. And if Maker’s rewards me with a fair deal, I’ll pay them back by letting people know about it. It shouldn’t be, but it’s a luxury in life to something that is enjoyable, comes as advertised, and is reasonably attainable. This is all of the above. 4.75. Looking forward to the other release from this year.

Tasting was a neck pour neat in glencairn, no water added. Don’t always like to review a neck pour, but this one is impressive. Fully expect it to open up more. Nose - is fantastic, heavy caramel and maple, little bit of butterscotch, apple, raisin, maybe a little cotton candy, and oak. I could smell it as I was pouring. There’s absolutely no ethanol coming off of it. I do get a breakfast vibe with a maple bacon, syrup and pancakes or waffles. Great nose! Palate - pretty impressed with the palate as well. Palate goes for a little bit of a ride, it went sweet to spicy back to sweet. Definitely caramel and maple on the front end. I do often pick up apple on Makers Mark products and I do here as well but not quite as prominent as other pours. Get a little bit of a sweet bread, and a dark fruit, keep going back to raisin, mid palate cinnamon red hot is standing out, get oak and some barrel char, then the maple starts to creep back in as it finishes. Finish - For me this hung on quite a bit. Not a super complex finish but I do get oak, little bit of leather, get hints of the maple and apple, and then drys out a little but not in an unpleasant way. Immensely enjoyed the first pour. That’s maybe a dangerously crushable 54.7%, little to no burn, nice viscosity. For some the palate may not pack the punch the nose is giving off, but as this opens up I could see that changing. By no means is the palate bad, but the nose is strong. No question this is a buy it if you see it. Not a fan of secondary prices, who is right? This I’d consider going up to a $100 for though. Cheers!

Fresh off my taste of BRT-02, this BRT-01 smells a fair bit brighter. Gone are the notes of molasses. This one smells... vibrant somehow. Baking spices with cherries ( but not over ripened ) and a hint of the butterscotch that was also present in BRT-02 fills your nose. The taste brings you down a wonderfully sweet, tart and complex road. You get a little bit of toasted spice at first, think slightly charred cinnamon sticks. That opens up to wonderfully bright and slightly tart cherries. Linking the taste and finish is that familiar spice but this time accompanied by a slight hint of brown sugar. The finish brings it all together. I still taste the tartness from mid taste but with a bit of tongue prickle from spice. Its long lasting and satisfying. Maker's Mark Wood Finishing series still ( in my humble opinion ) stand as some of the best bourbons you can buy at a reasonable price. Well... if you buy them at retail price. But right now, BRT-01 and BRT-02 are finally hitting shelves in California and have been readily available in other parts of the country for weeks. Well worth the price of admission. Between the two? BRT-01 is brighter, livelier and more fun than BRT-02 which focuses on darker, sweet notes. Hard to pick between the two but my vote goes toward BRT-01 as the better of the two.

Nose opens with Concord grape, black cherry, caramel, vanilla, butterscotch, blackberry, leather, tobacco, varnish, sweet corn, coconut, and old oak furniture. A hint of ethanol at first but it dissipates quickly leaving only goodness behind; one minute it’s fruit forward, the next it’s more candy. A complex and inviting nose for sure. Hmmm. Palate offers only a portion of the glory promised in the aroma. Grape and blackberry kick us off, followed by toffee, toasted marshmallow, coconut, barrel char, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Flavors are very punchy. Finish comes in like a freight train, wiping out the palate completely and bringing hot ethanol, bitter oak, spicy pink peppercorn, and turpentine. It’s long, but you kind of wish it were shorter as the ethanol burn is the longest note present. Mouthfeel is light bodied and a little grainy; could benefit from more heft and smoothness. This started off amazing (nose), turned into decent (palate), and ended sub-standard (finish). A low point in the Wood Finished series for me so far as most have been good to excellent. This one is only fair and just has a few too many flaws. I wanted to like it more than I did. Not a rebuy at retail of $70.

Open 9 days Nose - Butterscotch and caramel infused with Christmas spices, Honey Smacks, malted chocolate, golden raisins, and medium ethanol. Palate - Vanilla infused honey, candied cinnamon apples, peach and cherry pie, figs, sweet hay, and cocoa nibs. Finish is medium-long with chocolate oak tannins, clove, cinnamon, toast, white peppercorn, apple cider, and medium ethanol. This is the single most enjoyable whiskey I've had in 2022. Everything about it is fantastic, and it is perfect for this time of year. I originally thought I'd knock it down to 4.25 to avoid grade inflation accusations, but I don't care. It's great, I love Maker's wood stave finishes. They're so good at this. Plus they haven't raised their prices in the last year like most bourbon distilleries. The taters can chase Weller, Pappy, and Old Fitz to their heart's desire, I'll stick with Maker's.