Maker's Mark releases its oldest bourbon yet: How to get a bottle of Cellar Aged 2024
Lovers and hunters of bourbon might want to mark their calendars for something special.
Around the middle of September last year, Maker’s Mark surprise dropped one of the iconic distillery’s boldest bourbons, and the 70-year-old operation’s oldest expression made to date.
When word spread about the inaugural Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged in 2023, droves of people camped and lined up outside the distillery in Loretto in hopes of securing a bottle. For the rural area with narrow roads for routes in and out, the stir of visitors caused a traffic issue or two.
The national response to the Cellar Aged bourbon was strong. It won awards. And the stock of 30,000 bottles quickly sold out. Some are reselling online for hundreds of dollars more than the original price.
There have since been rumblings among the bourbon-collecting community about when the next iteration might come.
Let’s make it official: Yes, Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged is happening again.
The 2024 version will be available for purchase during the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Sept. 13-15 in Bardstown, on-site at the distillery this weekend and starting Sept. 16 in select retail stores.
The team at Maker’s Mark is trying to quell some of last year’s hubbub by sharing details in advance about how to get a bottle. That’s why a small group of Kentucky-based journalists from various outlets, including the Courier Journal, were invited to Loretto earlier this month for an exclusive preview tasting of the 2024 Cellar Aged.
Read on for details about how to get a bottle of Cellar Aged 2024, and the Courier Journal's notes on tasting it:
How to get Maker's Mark Cellar Aged 2024
There are three ways to get your hands on a bottle of Maker's Mark Cellar Aged 2024:
First, the limited-release Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2024 will be available for purchase at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Sept. 13-15 in Bardstown. A limited number of bottles will be available each day of the event and will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, limited to one per person. A ticket is required to access the Maker’s Mark booth.
Tickets to the 2024 Kentucky Bourbon Festival are sold out.
Second, during the three days of the Bourbon Festival, a limited number of Cellar Aged 2024 will be available for purchase at Maker’s Mark Distillery, 3350 Burkes Spring Road, Loretto.
On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, distillery gates will open at 5 a.m. each morning. Visitors of the age of 21 and up will show an ID to receive a ticket to hold their place in line. At 9 a.m., ticketed guests will then proceed to the Visitor Center to begin the purchase process. There is a limit of one ticket/one bottle per person for the duration of the release event. All Cellar Aged 2024 bottles will be pre-dipped Maker's Mark's iconic red wax. Overnight parking, camping or loitering outside the distillery entrance before gates opening is not permitted, nor is the public consumption of alcohol. Distillery facilities, including restrooms, will not be available until 9 a.m.
Finally, beginning Monday, Sept. 16, Cellar Aged 2024 will be available at Maker’s Mark by booking the "Cellar Aged Experience," a unique tour and tasting option, at makersmark.com//distillery/visit-us.
What's special about Maker's Mark Cellar Aged 2024
For a distillery long known for sticking to 6-year-old recipes, releasing bourbon aged for 12 or 13 years is new.
“We surprised the world with the debut of Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged last year, a bold step in our family’s legacy because, for more than 65 years, aging our whisky for a decade-plus wasn't something we did,” Rob Samuels, 8th generation whiskey maker and managing director of Maker's Mark, said in a news release.
This step is only possible because of the distillery’s limestone-lined cellar house, which opened in December 2016. For the cellar-aged bunch of bourbons, barrels spend the first six or eight years of their aging process in traditional rickhouses, taking in the switching of seasons, and then end their years in the cooler, darker, more temperature-controlled cellar.
“This building gives us a very unique aging experience,” Beth Buckner, Maker’s Mark’s senior manager of innovation and blending, said during the media preview. “It lets us do things a little bit differently.”
During the preview, Buckner spoke about the deepness and richness of the 2023 Cellar Aged.
“With this whiskey, it was the first time we had ever aged outside of that 6 to 8-year-old window, intentionally,” she said.
What happened in 2024, then, was “a little unexpected for us.”
That’s because this soon-to-be-released bourbon is “the oldest expression of Maker’s Mark ever,” as Buckner said.
The liquid is a blend of 15% Maker’s Mark 12-year-old and 85% Maker’s Mark 13-year-old and resulted at 59.7% ABV or 119.3 proof. The bourbon was described this way, via the release: “The aroma is captivating, with notes of caramelized sugar, zesty citrus, and toasted almond. The palate unveils a delicate interplay of buttery shortbread, rich coconut, and bright spices. A lingering, mouthwatering finish showcases dried dark fruit and subtle oak undertones.”
The higher proof surprised Buckner and Blake Layfield, the company’s senior director and head of innovation quality blending.
Something else surprised them, too.
“We’re getting a coconut note that I have never experienced before,” Buckner said.
That’s part of the fun for them. And for those that taste this bourbon, of which about 33,000 bottles are available for a retail price of $174.99.
“This is meant to be a learning journey that we’re taking the consumers on,” Layfield said. “And they get to learn with us.”
Reach food and dining reporter Amanda Hancock at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Maker's Mark releases oldest bourbon yet: How to get Cellar Aged 2024