Bread helped Whiskey

Bill Samuels, Sr.’s quest to create Maker’s Mark® began with his only copy of the family’s trusted, 170-year-old recipe. After accidentally burning a set of drapes in the process, Bill experimented with different flavoring grains. To save years of aging time, Bill baked several loaves of bread with various grain combinations instead of distilling them. His quick thinking not only saved time but also led him to swap out the traditional rye grain that is commonly used in bourbons, for soft, red winter wheat. This replaced the hot bite of rye with the delicate sweetness that Maker’s® is known for today.  To ensure consistency, we rotate every barrel by hand and age our bourbon to taste, not time. Each and every bottle of Maker’s® is still hand-dipped in our signature red wax at our distillery in Loretto, Ky.

Co-founder Margie Samuels, Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Famer, hand-dipped the first bottles in her kitchen using a home fryer to melt the wax. While every sip of Maker’s® tastes just like the one before it, no two bottles are exactly alike. Those red tendrils give each bottle its own unique flourish. Similar to how it was in Margie’s kitchen all those years ago, Maker’s Mark is hand-dipped in 400-degree red wax. You can still check out the various dipping styles of the folks on our dipping line, from the skinny dipper to the no-nonsense dunker. You can even express your style by dipping your own bottle of Maker’s Mark at the distillery.