Maker’s Mark Private Select 2019 RC6 54.1% ABV Review - Plenty of Cinnamon

A while ago Maker’s Mark had a problem. They made the perfect clean smooth wheated bourbon. Meanwhile, a modern palate wanted more ‘rye’ spice, and more ‘oaky’ notes, and other elements that Maker’s Mark’s perfect formula was lacking. Their ingenious answer was to use oak staves in a brief extra-maturation process to add additional flavours to the whisky. Maker’s Mark 46 was born, and the results were terrific. 

Some years ago, they started the Private Select program. Using a variety of oak staves (different seasoning, wood types, etc..) they were able to produce a thousand unique flavour profiles. If you had the cash to buy a barrel of bourbon, you could pick your own recipe. This became incredibly popular. Big store chains bought their own recipes. The cool thing is, once a recipe is used, no one else can use that particular combination of staves. 

RC6 is the next evolution of this idea. It’s Maker’s Mark first national release of the Private Select program. The staves used are extra-seasoned (18 months) and toasted in a convection oven. The goal was to up the baking spice elements in the whisky. It’s like Maker’s Mark 46 Cask Strength, but with a little more depth. A total of 255 barrels were aged for this release. 

Maker’s Mark RC6 2019 Private Select 
Maker’s Mark Distillery
Category: Wheated Bourbon, Bourbon, Staves
Score: Become a Patron 

Nose: Cinnamon, brown sugar, freshly polished leather, dried fruits, that famous “boozy cherry” note found in wheated bourbons, and dark chocolate. Despite the oak finishes, it noses like a wheated bourbon with plenty of dusty brown sugar sweet notes. 

Palate: Brown sugar, dried fruits, cinnamon and sugar shaker spice and sweetness, and that little funky edge in the boozy cherry note that I often associated with wheaters. It’s dry, ridiculously dry, and sweet and pleasing. 

Conclusion: It’s close in recipe to Maker’s Mark 46, and reminiscent of the cask strength variety, but I’d argue this is better. Maker’s Mark 46 Cask Strength felt like it was devolving some of the complexity in 46 by being overly boozy. This, though, is not overly boozy. It’s a perfect cask strength with a recipe that works at this level. I really, really, enjoyed it. The sweet and dry and cinnamon spice combined with the funkiness of a wheated bourbon works terrifically well. 

Other reviews around the Internet: Breaking Bourbon, Distiller.com