Private Select is Maker's Mark's most customisable expression — a programme that allows retailers to create their own bespoke Maker's Mark by choosing from ten different wood stave profiles. Each stave type (French cuvée, roasted French Mocha, toasted French Spice, and others) contributes different flavour characteristics, and the retailer selects the combination. The result is a bourbon that is unique to each bottling.
The process begins with fully matured Maker's Mark, which is then finished in a barrel containing the custom stave selection for approximately nine weeks. The additional wood contact deepens the flavour without the extended ageing that can over-oak a wheated bourbon. Bottled at 55.25% ABV — cask strength — without chill filtration.
The nose varies by stave selection but typically features amplified versions of the Maker's Mark profile: rich caramel, toasted oak, brown sugar, baking spice, and dried fruit, with the specific stave choice adding its own signature — perhaps extra vanilla from the French cuvée, or chocolate from the Mocha stave.
The palate is full and complex: dark caramel, toasted grain, baking spice, dark fruit, and oak, with the wheat mashbill providing its characteristic softness even at cask strength. The finish is long, with oak tannins and spice lingering. Each Private Select bottling is a one-of-a-kind bourbon, and the best ones rival any premium American whiskey on the market.
