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This bourbon has taken a couple of different forms over the years. The early bourbon was very good with extra years of aging and 86 proof. It is a very tastey product with lots of fruit flavor as well as the caramel / vanilla flavor found in the standard expression. There is also a nutty flavor that comes through just before the finish and becomes more wood in the finish. Has anyone tasted the modern version which is 90 proof? How would youcompare it to the older cersion?

Mike Veach

Mike,
I drink the modern version all the time. It really is no different than the regular stuff in the Red Wax Bottles (according to MM personnel). The new stuff has lost the fruitiness and most of the congeners which made the old stuff what it was. It is still quite drinkable but a far cry from your bottle or the gold wax 101's of yesteryear.
Joe

Joe,
The Gold wax 101 was a completely different creature from the old personalized Maker's Mark which was only 86 proof. The 101 proof was a very good product as well with a lot of rich caramel of the Creme Brulle type of flavor, with some wonderfull rich fruit and nuts balanced by a nice oaky finish. If the personalized bottles today are no different than the regular bottling, that is a dissapointment.

Mike Veach

JoeBourbon wrote:Mike,
... a far cry from your bottle or the gold wax 101's of yesteryear.
Joe

The old gold wax 101 proof was the only Maker's Mark that I have ever truely enjoyed. Supurb stuff and a fond memory.

ima

bunghole wrote:The old gold wax 101 proof was the only Maker's Mark that I have ever truely enjoyed. Supurb stuff and a fond memory.

ima

I still can't understand why they won't sell that stuff anymore... To me the Japanese bottling of makers mark (black wax) is much better than the american red wax bottling... But after Mike Veach poured some of that old makers mark for me I was blown away... I just can't understand how it wouldn't be profitable for them to be still making that stuff... I'd definitely be buying it if it was available...

This was the second wheated bourbon that Linn ever admitted to liking. (The first was a blind taste of some Old Rip Van Winkle 10yo 107.) The Gold Wax 101 proof was a very nice product that proved that Maker's Mark actually deserved its reputation at one time.
Mike Veach

Mike, I've seen a number of personalised gold wax Maker's Marks in liquor stores in Kentucky, i.e., bearing someone's name or left blank but for some reason sold in the general market.

I never thought to check the proof. Are these gold wax Maker's 101 proof? Or is the gold wax 101 proof Maker's you are referring to something different?

Gary

Gary,
The personalized bottle was an 86 proof Maker's Mark sealed with gold wax and bottled in the late 60's early 70's. There was a later version of a gold wax sealed Maker's Mark bottled at 101 proof. This was in the Kentucky Markets in the late 70's early 80's. Those are the two bottling that have been mentioned so far.

Mike Veach

Gary,
The modern ones that you see in stores are 90 proof and contain the same whiskey as the red wax version.
Joe