Maker’s Mark’s New Mizunara-Finished Bourbon Is Great

Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

It seems like there are only a few brands and distilleries left that haven’t yet used Japanese mizunara oak to age their bourbon. Maker’s Mark was one of these, at least until now—the new World Wood Collection Expedition 01 marks the first time that this Kentucky distillery has given its bourbon a mizunara finish. Of course, true to form, this was done with wood staves and not secondary barrels, and I’m happy to report that the result is one of the best and most interesting releases in Maker’s Wood Finishing series to date.

Over the 60 years and change that it’s been making whiskey, Maker’s Mark has been distilling wheated bourbon, meaning bourbon that is made using wheat instead of rye as the secondary flavoring grain (the same style that other brands like Pappy Van Winkle and Old Fitzgerald make). The distillery expanded into wood finishing with the launch of Maker’s 46 in 2010, but this wasn’t your typical cask-finished whiskey. Instead of putting bourbon into a new set of barrels, the distillery inserts 10 virgin French oak staves that have been seared into cask-strength Maker’s, and lets the whiskey age for a little more than two months in its cool limestone cellars.

Maker’s expanded its lineup with the Wood Finishing Series in 2019, releasing a series of bourbons given unique stave finishes over the ensuing years using different types of wood that are seared to different levels. According to master distiller Dr. Blake Layfield, searing really means using infrared to “cook” the wood, as opposed to toasting or charring it, thereby releasing specific chemical compounds which will then flavor the whiskey. The Wood Finishing Series kind of ended in 2023, but then began a new chapter in 2024, and is said will wrap up again in 2028. It’s a little confusing, but now we have the first release in the World Wood Collection, which is being released exclusively at global travel retail locations.

Expedition 01 is the first Maker’s bourbon to use mizunara, the Japanese oak that is known for being rare, expensive, and often difficult to work with due to its porous nature. It’s also highly coveted for the flavors it imbues into whiskey. Of course, it helps that Maker’s Mark is owned by Suntory Global Spirits, the Japanese company that also controls House of Suntory and happens to have access to a great deal of mizunara barrels. According to Layfield, the amount of mizunara devoted to this bourbon was actually quite small, but it still had a significant impact. The exact percentages of staves used for this release are as follows: 55 percent American oak, 40 percent French oak, and 5 percent mizunara. The bourbon was initially matured for seven years and then spent nine weeks in the distillery’s limestone cellar to finish.

I was able to try each component on its own before tasting the final blend, and indeed they all have their own unique character. Despite it being just a fraction of the overall blend, this bourbon does read as mizunara-influenced, which is a testament to the impact even a small amount of that type of wood can have on a whiskey. As you sip, there are the usual incense and floral notes that you’d expect from the use of this Japanese oak, but those are fairly subtle and balanced out by flavors like maple, vanilla, dark wood, leather, apple, and toasted almond. Unlike past Wood Finishing Series releases that were bottled at relatively high ABVs, this clocks in at 47.5 percent, or 95 proof, which I think is really much more enjoyable to drink.

Of course, as mentioned before, this is currently a global travel retail release that you can find at JFK, London, Istanbul, Perth, and Bengaluru (SRP $85). On one hand, the brand is positioning this as a special release for the duty-free market that should draw in consumers looking for something new; on the other hand, this could be seen as a testing ground. Does that mean Expedition 01 could be a wider release in the future? Perhaps, but in the meantime if you’re traveling through one of these airports, pick up a bottle. You won’t be disappointed.

Score: 94

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