Maker's Mark Wood Finishing Series is a collection of bourbons that undergo a wood stave-finishing technique that is meant “to enhance distinctive characteristics already present in the brand's iconic bourbon.” The previous set of five releases in the Wood Finishing Series were considered chapter one. “The Heart Release” kicks off chapter two and focuses on the teams behind the creation of Maker's Mark bourbon. According to Maker’s Mark, this year’s release is meant to showcase the “unique taste vision inspired by the distillery team.” The bourbon is finished with two different types of virgin French oak staves, 10 staves each, with one set inserted into the barrel for 5 weeks, and the other for 9 weeks. This finishing takes place in the distillery’s limestone cellar where Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged is aged.

A bright and expressive bouquet of raspberry, cranberry, and melted caramel flows strongly from the glass. Sweet and robust charred oak follows, creating a strong anchor point. There’s a hint of herbal and dark chocolate scents that ever-so-gently flows in creating a contrast to the sweet fruit and hearty oak. It’s not an overly complex aroma, but one with good warmth and a commanding presence.  

A mix of melted milk chocolate and reduced maple syrup forms a thick opening to the palate. This rich partnership makes an immediate good impression before more savory flavors of charred oak and pretzel come rolling in. These overshadow more muted notes of vanilla and black cherry, which deserve a bit more attention than they deliver. These flavors provide a welcomed tweak to the traditional Maker’s Mark flavor profile, offering darker and more robust flavors (much like Maker’s Mark 46 does). As such, the palate foreshadows the very brooding finish that is about to get unleashed.

Robust and forceful bitter oak completely takes over as the finish begins. It bleeds down into the remaining flavor profile, making everything have a hint of oak to it. Sharp molasses pops up and combines with clove and dark bitter chocolate to form a prickly finish, with maple and a peppery spiciness lingering as the sip concludes. The overall flavors would be enjoyable by themselves, but combined, they produce a bitter slant, and the oak dominance creates a very off-balance and likely polarizing conclusion.

Maker’s Mark’s Wood Finishing Series and the seemingly randomly named staved finished limited editions bourbons have been somewhat of a mixed bag over the years. Maker’s remains one of the few companies that is extremely hesitant to expand their product line beyond only a few core expressions and their limited edition releases. This was due to Bill Samuels Sr.’s wishes, though the company and Samuels’ offspring have found creative ways around this by harnessing the flavoring effects of stave finishing. Though the team is somewhat pigeonholed by only having staves at their disposal, they have proven over the past 5 years how varied the results can be. For better or for worse, this has seemingly put a ceiling on their overall quality. To date, we have yet to award any stave finished Maker’s Mark higher than 3.5 barrels with Maker’s Mark RC6 being one of the true standouts so far.

With the self-imposed restrictions of one mashbill and only allowing stave finishing that they put on themselves, there can surprisingly be a wide gamut the company can utilize in order to play with the traditional Maker’s Mark flavor profile. Though Maker’s Mark tries to only alter the flavors already present in Maker’s Mark bourbon and not necessarily try and introduce an entirely new flavor profile, stave finishing can radically change the way a whiskey tastes. That is exactly why, despite some up and down releases, they are able to remain unexpected and somehow fresh.

“The Heart Release” was designed by the company’s distillery team and how they interpret what it means to be a Maker’s Mark bourbon - both in taste and smell, but also how their jobs pertain to its creation. This is why it is so interesting that they landed on a bourbon that doubles down on oak so heavily that it seemingly tastes more like a Garrison Brothers bourbon than a Maker’s Mark one. There are plenty of people who love a big oak profile in their bourbon, which is proven by the ongoing popularity of double oaked bourbons. “The Heart Release” is dominated by oak, and as a result, more savory notes come out in the palate, along with a deep black cherry note. The finish is flush with bitter oak, which does counter the anti-bitter taste Bill Sr. wanted out of a Maker’s Mark bourbon and as a result, will make this a polarizing release and very unlike what many know Maker’s Mark to be.

You’ve got to continue to give it to Maker’s Mark (and by extension, Beam), they keep the price of their stave finished limited edition bourbons on a short leash and have only increased them about $15 since their introduction in 2019 with RC6. More notable is the price remains well under $100, which is increasingly unheard of from a major Kentucky distillery for a limited release. They either really care about keeping these limited editions affordable for the widest group of bourbon drinkers as they can, or because of the wide variation of each release, they choose to play it safe. Regardless, sometimes the consumer wins and they get a good one at a fair price, but at minimum, they are affordable enough for bourbon drinkers to take a chance on one. Though “The Heart Release” features a good nose and palate, the finish is problematic and will make this year's price feels higher than normal.

Though Mark’s Mark said they were phasing out their stave finished limited release bourbons last year, apparently they were just ending “chapter 1” and “The Heart Release” is the beginning of “chapter 2.” Such semantics and marketing is inconsequential if the bourbon is good and the price is even better, which unfortunately isn’t the case here. “The Heart Release” is simply not going to be for everyone. With big oak notes found throughout that turn bitter as the sip concludes, this release will be polarizing. It isn’t dramatically different from previous releases in the series, but with all of Maker’s stave finished bourbons, there is often just enough variation that fans of the series and brand will find something to come away with. But from a pure drinkablity standpoint, “The Heart Release” is too off-balance with oak overpowering the bourbon’s more enjoyable flavors it introduces, and that their standard bourbon lacks. They don’t put wood in the Wood Finishing Series’ name for nothing, as charred bitter oak is a dominating force in this stave finished bourbon.