Schaefer's Maker's Mark Private Selection is in the house. It's our own Schaefer's wooden stave creation.
Since the first bottle of Maker’s Mark was filled in 1958 by the Samuels family, they've attempted to do things a little different than the rest of the Bourbon industry. Maker’s now is “thanking” its most loyal retail and bar customers with their own barrel of custom bourbon. Maker’s has gained a significant amount of knowledge on how to manipulate their flagship product over the two years spent developing Maker’s 46. Several different oak staves were used while performing those 124 different experiments. So, Maker’s decided to implement the lessons learned from Maker’s 46 to develop a barrel buying program that allowed Schaefer's to craft its own barrel based on flavors we chose to amplify.
It’s All About The Wood The five different variations of Maker’s Mark Cask Strength, specially developed for this barrel program, smell and taste very different from one another. We spent an entire morning earlier this year tasting with our Maker's technician and here’s where we came out:
Seared French Cuvee (Cu)- 6 parts This stave is seared using an infrared oven, which is the exact cooking process the Maker’s 46 stave goes through except it's not cooked as long. It’s darker than the American stave, because it is exposed to higher heat. It also has cut ridges which creates more surface area and opens the door for different flavors, such as intense butterscotch, caramel and a little nuttiness. If you like heavy whipping cream, pork belly, basically fat, then this texture will be appealing. It should also add a bit of sweetness, like the P2 below.
Baked American Pure (P2). - 3 parts The American Pure P2 stave hits forward on the palate and produce intense oak & vanilla notes. It adds sweetness, but not necessarily in the creamy or textured sense. There's a sharp, bolt of oak that goes right to the front of the palate.
Roasted French Mocha (Mo)- 1 part This French oak has been cooked in conventional oven like its P2 buddy, but instead of cooking low and slow it is exposed to a higher temperature. That higher heat unlocks dark chocolate and roasted coffee flavors and heavier char flavors. This is the most back palate Maker’s Mark you’re ever going to taste. In short, one Mocha stave was added to achieve a longer finish. Two parts was just (2) too much!
Click to the PRODUCT PAGE at bottom of this blog page.
Comments