An Iconic Kentucky Whiskey Distillery Just Put a Japanese Twist on Its Signature Bourbon
This is the first time the iconic Kentucky distillery has ever used this ingredient.
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Wood has played a significant role in Maker's Mark identity compared to most other distilleries.
Bourbon obviously requires oak barrels for aging, but what the brand did back in 2010 was simply groundbreaking. Taking methods used in wine-making, the Kentucky distillery began experimenting with inserting custom-designed, cooked French oak staves directly into mature bourbon barrels.
Maker's Mark debuts its World Wood Collection with the inaugural Expedition 01 bourbon. - Credit: Maker's Mark
The result was Maker's Mark 46, the first new expression from the brand since it was launched in 1958. Since then, Maker's has continued to experiment with wood and aging techniques.
Its latest release furthers this approach by giving its signature bourbon a taste of Japanese whiskey making for the very first time.
The whiskey is the first from the brand to use oak from three different continents, and the first to feature Japanese mizunara oak as well. - Credit: Maker's Mark
Not oak-ing around
Launching as the inaugural release for the World Wood Collection, Expedition 01 begins with classic Maker's Mark wheated bourbon. Three different batches of the liquid are then stave-finished with wood from a different continent: American white oak, French oak and Japanese mizunara oak.
After nine months of finishing, the batches are masterfully blended together (55% American, 40% French and 5% Japanese). Despite being the first time Maker's has ever used mizunara, the Japanese oak is kept at such a low proportion of the final blend simply because of the wood's potency.
The three wood staves were individually used to finish the distillery's bourbon for nine months, then blended together. - Credit: Maker's Mark
According to the brand, floral and subtle umami notes are derived from the mizunara. Meanwhile, American oak helps sweeten the overall profile with notes like vanilla and French oak provides the baking spice and caramel elements on the palate. It's bottled at 47.5% ABV.
Quite the potent wood, mizunara is kept at only 5% of the final blend but adds floral and umami notes to the whiskey. - Credit: Maker's Mark
Price and availability
Expedition 01 is a global travel retail exclusive, meaning it can only be found (for now) at Avolta retail shops in airports. It's already available in New York (JFK), London (LHR), Istanbul (SAW), Perth (PER) and Bengaluru (BLR). However, this is likely to land on secondary retail sites soon.
Limited in edition size, the whiskey has a suggested retail price of $85.
Maker's Mark Expedition 01 Bourbon Whiskey
About the Author: Ethan Brehm is an associate editor at Gear Patrol writing about footwear, watches, spirits, EDC and more. When he's not shopping for his next G-Shock, he spends his time watching movies and planning a future road trip with his family. He firmly believes CDs sound better than vinyl.
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