Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Maker's Mark

Name (full): Maker's Mark (S*IV) Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky Handmade

Proof: 90

Price: $19.90 per 750 mL @ Marion County State Store, Marion OH.

Bottle: Distinctive. About anyone who knows whiskey could pick out a Maker's Mark bottle across the room. With its hand dipped red wax seal and hand printed parchment-esque label it strikes one as old style in nature. Right below the neck is another rendition of the Samuels Maker's Mark seal. The label claims that it is "America's only handmade bourbon whiskey - never mass produced.". It goes on to discuss the effort they put into each 19 barrel batch. The Whisky was "Distilled, aged, and bottled by the Maker's Mark Distillery, Inc. Star Hill Farm, Loretto, KY, USA.".

Color: Amber

Nose: hot cinnamon, minty(??)/green, lemony/orange, molasses, vanilla, nutmeg

When Diluted: sweeter, raw sugar, more cinnamon.

Taste: butterscotch, green, citrusy (oranges from the nose), sweet spices, barrel.

When Diluted: mint, barrel, orange

Finish: VERY very short, warm. Sudden, Jarring, over too fast.

Mouth feel: tingly around the edges, thin, but still mouth filling (medium in the mouth).



Conclusions: First off I have to say that I still like this bourbon quite a bit, although I find the finish to be quite the letdown. That said a friend of mine was right, this is the "Bud-Light" of bourbons. HE LOVED it!! He said she forgot he was drinking bourbon on several occasions while tasting this. He kept remarking that it didn't much taste like bourbon, so I asked him what it did taste like. . . . . . . . .and he said. . . . . well not much, really. The label/website go on & on about how much effort they put into each small 19 barrel batch (rotation, barrel selection, barreling at a low proof, etc.) and I really have to wonder why they do it. Is it really worth all the effort (& more importantly, maybe ADDED COST), because it doesn't seem to produce much result. At least all the extra effort at WT (the other distillery who puts the effort in regards to Low Distillation proof & Barrel Rotation) produced a very flavorful whiskey. Effort wise maybe this is a true small batch bourbon, and I know they helped bring about the small batch plethora we have today, but taste wise this is a middle shelf bourbon masquerading as a top shelf job. If you sold it to me for $12 I might make it an "everyday pour" but its just not worth the money to have it around all the time @ $20. They really should bottle different expressions of this bourbon, because I am sure they could do better than this, I would be interested to try a more aged, higher proofed (8 year, 101 proof, maybe??) version because I have a hard time believing all that effort has to go to waste.

TomC

Partagas Spanish Rosado San Augustin

(Got this stick as part of a spiffy Partagas three pack sampler!)
5½" X 52, Spanish Rosado

Appearance: Pretty Well Constructed. Smooth, no noticeable veins. A nice reddish brown color, and firm. Actually, solid as a rock! Boy, this dude is packed tight! Hopefully this doesn't cause burn and draw problems.

Pre-Light: Clip was easy and straight. Pre-Light draw was a bit restricted but not too horrible. Flavors consisted of a lovely tangyness, with some earthy undertones. Also leather and tobacco notes.

Burn/Draw: The draw did wind up being a tad more restrictive than I would have liked, but it really was not much of an issue. It produced a fair amount of smoke. The tight draw actually forced me to smoke the cigar more slowly than I would have otherwise, which lead to cooler smoke and a more languid smoking experience. The burn was spot on all the way through, razor straight and never budging. Hallmarks of a well made cigar.

Flavors: Yummy Stuff Here. A nice medium strength smoke. The flavors from the pre-light carry over here and there are a couple of great additions, after an initial burst of spice, it settles in nicely into some sweet tangyness, and a bunch of other nice flavors (Honey, Ginger, Cinnamon). About a third of the way in some of the sweetness abates, and the earthiness comes back, grounding the flavor and keeping it from becoming cloying. Those leather and Tobacco notes return, and Toasted woodiness. That spice comes back near the end building to a rather dry, almost peppery finish. this is my favorite domestic Partagas line so far (I still really want to try the Ciefuentes line), and it is a very good smoke. I can heartily suggest them to most anyone.

TomC