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Part science experiment and part advertisement for their Private Select barrel program, the Lost Recipe series from Maker's Mark is a limited-release collection which uses never before tested combinations of finishing barrel staves which have been retired from the main barrel select stave kit. The private select program sees selectors choose a combination of ten finishing barrel staves from a rotating list of five flavors. This particular release centers on the archived Roasted French Mocha stave which was retired in 2021 and replaced by the "Mendiant" stave in the current kit. Edition 02 of 2025 includes the following staves:
- 3 Baked American #2 - sweetness/vanilla, honey, bright fruit
- 4 Maker's Mark No. 46 - caramel, toasty, baking spice
- 3 Roasted French Mocha - Dark chocolate, coffee, charred oak
🛒Sourced: $64.99 - Costco, GA 700ml - always sad to see the 700ml bottle. Most of this series seems to have gone to Costco or control state ABC systems. It is a bit cheaper than other private selections and special releases which are usually in the mid-$70s to $80s range.
🧪Proof: 110.9 proof, 50.45% ABV - slightly down from batch 1's 111.9 proof, within the normal range for Maker's cask strength releases.
🎨Color: R5 - About where most finished cask strengths end up in my experience, some with a little more age will get to '6.
🥔Mash Bill: 70% Corn, 16% Soft Red Winter Wheat, 14% Malted Barley - the standard Maker's Mark mash. Private selects and the Lost Recipe series follow the same recoopering and finishing process developed by Bill Samuels Jr. for Makers Mark No. 46. Under this process, fully matured Maker's Mark (6-8years typically) is dumped at cask strength and the barrel is partially disassembled to make space for the 10 custom wood finishing staves. The barrel is then refilled and left to finish for a varying amount of time(usually around 9-weeks) in the limestone cellar at Maker's Mark, an environment that limits temperature swings which could over-extract bitter wood tannins.
👃Nose: Very pleasant, little if any proof, less than you'd find in a similar amount of vanilla extract. Speaking of vanilla, it provides that in spades. I get some red berry with dark chocolate, cranberry scone, and sliced apricot. There is a LOT going on.
😜Palate: Balanced and smooth on the tongue, not heavy or overly viscous. A mudslide of coco that smoothly transitions into a truckload of baking spices, particularly clove. The spices tingle pleasantly, dancing on the palate, shifting to a slower tempo into the finish. Very easy drinking for cask strength whiskey.
Note: I was able to pick out more of the red fruit on the palate after the bottle had been open for a few weeks and approached about 45% fill.
💦Finish: As the spice subsides I get sweet vanilla and honey which hangs around for a good long while. Transition from the palate is surprisingly peppery.
🏆 Overall: 7.75/10 - Great, Well Above Average - This is a compelling bottle which substantially outperforms the standard Maker's 46 Cask Strength and equals or exceeds most standard cask strength batches. All flavor components are highly dynamic and multifaceted. I don't get any of the burnt flavors that I usually find in 46 while I also didn't find any of the tannin excess described in Lost Recipe 2025B1. If there is one thing that holds me back, it is that the bottle does drink fairly differently at various fill levels even over the course of a few weeks. Some oxidation seems to help bring out more of the fruited character, though I am interested to see if we see the other side of that bell curve shortly.
💵Would buy again? I'm sure I won't be able to resist picking up more private selects and similar releases. Playing around just with final batching and finishing makes it fun to see how a pretty stable mash and aging regimen can subtly shift. Compared to many other bottles on this market, this one is a great value and quality, better than a number of private selects I have had and many from other producers.
⚖️Rating Scale:
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws | Struggle to get through the bottle
4 | Serviceable | Mixing or ice recommended.
5 | Good | Drinkable Neat | An agreeable dram indeed.
6 | Very Good | Any flaws offset by interesting flavors | A cut above.
7 | Great | You find yourself reaching for this one often | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Serve to Impress Guests | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite | You guard this bottle jealously.