What’s the best wheated bourbon on the market today?

Makers Mark is making a push to change the Wheated King of Kentucky ‘s mind with the release of Makers Mark FAE- 02. Our great friend Drew Allen was able to snag a bottle for Big Chief at the distillery release.

Like all Wood Finishing Series offerings, including Maker’s Mark 46 and Maker’s Mark Private Selection, FAE 02 was crafted by finishing fully-matured, cask strength Maker’s Mark in secondary barrels fitted with their proprietary wood staves. The barrels are stored in Maker’s Mark’s limestone cellar for additional aging, where the cask strength bourbon interacts with the wood staves to develop the expression’s unique taste profile.

We hope you enjoy Jim and Mike’s review, and be sure to check out the podcast episode to hear their additional thoughts.   Cheers!

Tasting Notes: Makers Mark FAE- 02

Vital Stats: The mashbill is 70% Corn, 16% Wheat, 14% Malted Barley and is 109.1 proof. It is non-age stated with a $59.99 MSRP. It is finished with double-heat-treated virgin French Oak barrel staves and is non chill filtered. FAE stands for fatty acid esters. We thought it might have had two fairies inside the bottle to make it magical.

Appearance: Standard Wood Finishing series bottle with dark amber bourbon inside. They did however change the color of the label.

Nose: Floral with deep rose, fruits with spice and chocolate. Almost a coco crisp cereal. Some orange zest peaks through.

Palate: Very thick, almost velvet with some kick from pop rocks that leaves you with that sizzle. Hints of white bakers chocolate, oak and dark cherries. This is a complex bourbon that is a beautiful fall sipper that with will leave you wanting to grab another bottle.

Finish: Long and lingering with a building Kentucky hug.

Overall: If you can’t tell it’s a buy for both of us. Maybe this is made by two fairies (FAE-02) because it was everything and more than we had hoped for. Run out today and grab a bottle.

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