Review #10: Maker's Mark RC6: Bourbon

Score: 9.0 / 10

Distillery: Maker's Mark

Type: Barrel-Finished Wheated

A while back I had a half day after returning from a company trip so I swung by my favorite liquor store which was on the way home. The owner was inside and saw me wave, but he was also chatting with a customer so I nodded and moved over to the whiskey aisle. I had heard of the Maker’s RC6 at this point, but didn’t know any had been released into the wild – of course, there on the shelf was one bottle. An employee came over and handed the bottle to me right as the owner ran over to me and said, “Did you see we have the RC6?” I smiled and laughed because I was holding it in my hand. “I got twelve bottles and sold eleven in an hour and a half, that is the last one.” Which was amazing for not being an allocated whiskey. I took it home for $59, but before I did he had an open bottle and poured me a sample. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it gave me chills and I was excited to try more.

Whiskey Review:

Nose: oak, musty corn, orange zest, cream, vanilla, toffee, fudge

Palate: tingling and carbonated spice upfront bubbles and pricks the tongue. Creamy citrus fades back and forth between brown sugar and vanilla which team up with big cinnamon and spice. The initial flavors dance back and forth between fruit and spice fading into a lingering but light espresso. Swishing this between your teeth intensifies the cinnamon/spice burst but yields a rich and potent milk chocolate flavor.

Finish: heavy toasted wood and cinnamon hang around with a touch of fresh ground coffee and bitter dark chocolate. The finish feels to fade faster as you drink more (maybe a perceived experience).

Score: 9.0 – I’m a huge fan of this expression and find it to be a very fun drinker. This bottle falls near the top of my list for favorite bourbons in 2019. Note San Diego Costco was carrying these for $48 when I was out there and it’s a steal at that price.

Scale:

S+ Sensational - The Pinnacle (9.5+)

A - AXEceptional (astounding) (9-9.5)

B - bravo (step aBove average) (8-8.9)

C - competent (7-7.9)

D - disappointing (6-6.9)

F - flush it down the toilet (fail) (5.9 below)

Notes: Availability? Very Rare. When this originally came out it was uncommon - rare. However, this is a limited "one time" release of only 255 barrels. I'm not too sure what will happen to this bottle in the future, so I have an extra un-cracked one on hand just in case the price explodes down the line. Either way I think the demand and limit is a brew for something good to happen.