Maker’s Mark’s New Cellar Aged Bourbon Is Its Oldest Blend of Whiskeys to Date
Three years ago, Maker’s Mark gave its fans something they’d been asking for for a long time: a high age statement expression. Cellar Aged was very positively received by the whiskey world, so now it’s become an annual drop, and the new 2025 edition is a blend of the oldest whiskey that the distillery has ever released.
Of course, the Maker’s team will go out of their way to make it clear that they “age to taste, not time”—which is true, but an older age statement certainly doesn’t hurt the marketing. “From the beginning, Maker’s Mark has gone to extraordinary lengths to craft an uncompromisingly delicious bourbon, and Cellar Aged 2025 is a continuation of that pursuit,” Rob Samuels, managing director and eighth-generation whisky maker, said in a statement. “An elevated expression that remains unmistakably Maker’s Mark, Cellar Aged finishes maturing in our LEED-certified limestone cellar, creating a richer, deeper and more complex bourbon.”
The cellar he’s referring to is a special maturation location at the distillery that is built into the underground limestone shelf. It’s where Maker’s 46 is finished with oak staves, and where Cellar Aged is partially matured. That’s because the temperature is much lower there than in the traditional rickhouses, so the whiskey can age for longer without becoming overly oaky. “Aging at consistently cool temperatures slows the extraction of wood tannins, allowing oxidation to do its work and developing a bourbon that’s more complex,” said said master distiller Blake Layfield in a statement. “By avoiding the overly bitter, tannic notes that can come with traditional long aging, this one-of-a-kind expression challenges everything you think you know about aged bourbon.”
The specifics of the Cellar Aged 2025 blend are as follows: 74 percent 11-year-old bourbon, 10 percent 13-year-old bourbon, and 16 percent 14-year-old bourbon. All of those bourbons spent at least half of those maturation periods in the traditional warehouses before moving into the limestone cellar where the temperature averages around 50 degrees. The final blend was bottled at 112.9 proof (56.45 percent) ABV, but I got to sample it and it drinks much softer than you might expect. There are notes of dark chocolate, cherry syrup, baked pecan, caramelized brown sugar, maple, honey, and dark stone fruit on the palate. And despite its elevated age (for a bourbon), instead of drying tannins there are pleasant leather and oak notes.
Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2025 will be available in the U.S., Germany, and global travel retail starting in mid-September. The SRP is $175, and depending on where you are looking you can find a bottle close to that or for triple the price; the secondary market can be erratic. You can find the rest of the Maker’s Mark lineup available to purchase at websites like ReserveBar now.
