Cellar Aged 25, Inside Maker’s Mark Heritage Room With Dr Blake Layfield

We’re back at Star Hill Farm in Kentucky, sitting in the Heritage Room at Maker’s Mark, joined by Dr. Blake Layfield, the master distiller and head of innovation and blending. It’s the perfect day for bourbon, and Blake takes us through one of the most fascinating tastings we’ve ever done on the show.

In front of us are three glasses that tell the whole story of Maker’s Mark: the classic cask strength expression that represents the founders’ original taste vision, an eleven and a half year over-aged barrel that shows what happens when oak and tannin push a whiskey outside those guardrails, and finally the new Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged release, a blend of eleven, thirteen and fourteen year old whiskey that is rich, dark and complex without drifting into bitterness.

Blake explains how Maker’s Mark has kept the same mash bill, yeast and process since 1953 and why they focus on intensity, velocity, complexity and finish instead of simply naming tasting notes. He talks about what makes wheat spice feel so different to rye spice, why age is not a measure of quality in American whiskey, and what “age to taste” really means inside the distillery.

We hear the story of the limestone cellar, why dynamiting a hill changed what was possible for Maker’s Mark, and how the Cellar Aged project shows a new dimension of the classic house style. Blake also lifts the curtain on their blending process, where weeks of blind tasting eventually shape each year’s release.

If you’ve ever wondered how far Maker’s Mark can push maturity, what really happens in their warehouses, or why Cellar Aged tastes the way it does, this episode is a brilliant deep dive right from the source.

Chapters:

• 00:00 Welcome from Star Hill Farm and the Heritage Room

• 00:13 Introducing Dr Blake Layfield and why this room matters

• 00:35 Heritage, culture and what makes Maker’s Mark unique

• 01:08 Returning to Maker’s, where you first fell in love with bourbon

• 01:20 Three glasses on the table and what each one is

• 01:50 Glass 1: Maker’s Mark Cask Strength and the founder’s taste vision

• 02:32 How Maker’s has kept the same recipe since 1953

• 03:00 How Blake thinks about tasting: intensity, velocity, complexity and finish

• 04:10 Cherry notes from the yeast and wheat spice versus rye spice

• 05:49 Mash bill details and why the high malted barley is unusual

• 06:11 Velocity in the glass and how aroma meets you halfway

• 06:46 The history of classic 45 percent Maker’s and the first innovation, Maker’s 46

• 08:10 Opening up Cask Strength as a regular offering

• 08:36 Glass 2: an eleven and a half year over aged Maker’s Mark at cask strength

• 09:30 Why age is not automatically better and how American oak can take over

• 11:08 Tannins, dryness and the “I want water” reaction

• 12:16 Learning that bitterness and astringency are a choice, not a requirement

• 13:19 Talking about hand rotation, ricked barrels and low entry proof

• 14:09 Age to taste, not to a number

• 15:10 The limestone cellar and the birth of Maker’s Mark 46

• 16:10 Glass 3: Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged, dark, rich and complex, no bitterness

• 17:26 Aroma and flavor of Cellar Aged, bright cherry to dark cordial cherry

• 18:05 How long it spends in warehouses versus the cellar

• 18:33 Year by year blends and showing what cellaring can do to flavor

• 19:04 Inside the blending team and how they choose the final profile

• 19:45 Beth’s winning streak and Rob Samuels’ final sign off

• 20:32 How old can the cellar go, and where they expect the inflection point