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2 8 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t "TASTE VISION": These two words describe whisky creation lore, in which Bill Samuels, Sr. of Maker's Mark developed wheated bourbon with Pappy Van Winkle, Jeremiah Beam, and Lem Motlow of Jack Daniel's. According to his descendants, Samuels worked backward from this "taste vision" to create the forward-finishing, sweeter-tasting bourbon he desired. Combining this sweet flavor with the brand's iconic red wax developed by Samuels' wife, Margie, and clever marketing campaigns (Maker's first ad proclaimed it "tastes expensive . . . and it is") made Maker's Mark a bourbon figurehead with fans around the world. So when Maker's Mark had a new "taste vision" in 2010, the brand feared the worst: "What if we create New Coke?" said then-Master Distiller Kevin Smith, who worked with Bill Samuels, Jr. to create some- thing a little spicier than the original Maker's. That product was Maker's 46, for which fully matured Maker's Mark bourbon finishes in secondary barrels with French white oak staves inserted that have been aged and seasoned for 18 months, then seared until they almost catch on fire. Maker's 46 is a spicy and caramel-forward expression of Maker's Mark craved by many, especially its creator. This "taste vision" process was duplicated yet again for the Private Select program. In 2015, Maker's Mark offered its customers the op- portunity to follow their own vision through a stave-finishing program that could yield 1,001 possible flavor combinations. They would sample whisky made from several wood profiles: P2, an American oak classic cut with a low-and-slow convection oven toast; cuvee, a seared French oak stave that was infrared-toasted and cut with ridges for deeper penetra- tion; mocha, a classic-cut French oak cooked high in a convection oven; toasted French spice, a classic cut French-oak toasted high and low in a convection oven; and 46, the French oak stave cooked like a Pittsburgh steak that famously produces its namesake whisky. By creating personalized stave combinations to be inserted into their own Private Select barrel, retailers and accounts could develop a unique Maker's expression, but many groups lacked a cohesive understanding of their own "taste vision." This has prompted Private Select Program Director and Distillery Maturation Specialist Jane Bowie to establish a training program of sorts so participants could better determine their goals before going through the process—just like the creators of Maker's Mark and Maker's 46 before them. THE TASTE EVOLUTION OF MAKER'S MARK by Fred Minnick EXPLORING SPIRITS BACKWARD Working PHOTO: RYAN ARMBRUST As the Private Select Program Director/Maturation Specialist for Maker's Mark, Jane Bowie helps people through the process of creating their own Maker's Mark Private Select bourbon whisky.

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