Sweet and Spicy notes highlight Maker's Mark 2026 'The Stewards Release'

BOTTLE DETAILS

• DISTILLER: Maker's Mark Distillery
• MASH BILL: 70% Corn | 16% Wheat | 14% Malted Barley
• AGE: Around 6 years
• YEAR: 2026
• PROOF: 113.3 (56.65% ABV)
• MSRP: $74.99
• BUY ONLINE: Binny's Beverage Depot

STEVE'S NOTES

SHARE WITH: Maker's drinkers who prefer its lower-proof iterations. I generally love when high proof whiskey drinks softer than expected, but were I to taste this blind, I'd never guess it was 113.

WORTH THE PRICE: Not for me. Maker's has great bottles such as Cask Strength and Maker's 46 for about half that price. And it's not hard to find Maker's Private Select releases for $5 to $10 less. I prefer those bolder bottles.

BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bar. You may get it and love it, and that wouldn't surprise me. This is, of course, well made bourbon. But try the bar before the bottle.

OVERALL: From the news release on this bottle: The Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series features ... an innovative wood stave finishing technique that amplifies the distinctive characteristics of the brand’s signature bourbon. The Stewards Release (2026) opens with bright aromas evoking cherry pie and vanilla bean, layered with tasting notes of honey, toasted marshmallow and candied ginger, culminating in a vibrant finish marked by stone fruit and salted caramel.

Without a doubt, this bottle does exactly as the release claims: It "amplifies the distinctive characteristics of the brand’s signature bourbon." It makes MM's honey notes sweeter, elevates its barley and wheat notes, echoes its subtle spice profile on the palate and gives it a longer, warmer finish.

Based on the bottle's label, it does all that by finishing the whiskey using "10 virgin oak staves," meaning small oak planks dried for extended periods, cooked to specific flavor specs by one or more means, added to a freshly dumped barrel and aged for an unspecified period of weeks or months.

Since Maker's makes no bad whiskey, what's in the bottle is good sipping whiskey. Not a fault with it. But I like the others in the Wood Finishing Series better, especially the Keepers Release. Why? That and The Heart releases are noticeably off center from Maker's 90 proof flagship, just a little more complex and subject to the influences of the finishing wood. (Or, since I don't know the finishing staves used, maybe they're the same staves but longer aged? I doubt it, but I really don't know.)

I like the nose and palate a lot on this: sweet and spicy, characteristics that I bet would go exceptionally well with Japanese foods. But neither aromas nor flavors deviate from those sweet and spicy lanes; they don't take exits toward complexity or depth or weightier mouthfeel. As with every Maker's bourbon, caramel is here like always, as are toasted wheat bread and cinnamon, but there's not much else. And for $75, I'd like a lot more.

I think the millions of Maker's fans who love the flagship would love this as well. This definitely is a better version of that standard, but whether they're willing to pay almost triple for it is another story.

BRAND NOTES

TASTING NOTES

NOSE: Bright, Cherry Pie, Vanilla Beans

PALATE: Honey, Toasted Marshmallow, Candied Ginger

FINISH: A vibrant forward finish with notes of stone fruit and salted caramel

Disclaimer: Bourbon & Banter received a sample of this product from the brand for review. We appreciate their willingness to allow us to review their products with no strings attached. Thank you.