Review #whatever: Maker's Mark Cask Strength 111.6, port finished

Many thanks to /u/Looney_Bin for his generosity! What a great idea, not to mention sharing it with the community. Let's get to it.

Nose

I'm getting lots of the port influence already, and the influence is mostly good. There's a bit of added astringency in there. I'm getting cherries, French toast, a bit of cinnamon, mint, salt. After a bit of water is added, I get more honey and a deep caramel note that's really pleasant.

This is pretty nice to nose, though the port seems to crowd the rest of the notes out, making this more one-dimensional than it should be. Water helps bring out the more savory notes.

Taste

Lots of port again, and it's somewhat dry-feeling. Fruits, cinnamon, dust, brown sugar, leather. I like the port influence here, as it's kind of like a sharp glint on top of the MMCS profile. It does add a touch of bitterness, though, and it seems separated from the base spirit, like it's layered on top instead of mixed.

Finish

Huge port yet again. Drier than it seems like it should be. Pine, honey. The port-finishing is giving this a longer, more flavorful finish over regular MMCS. The proof lingers the longest, but the flavor itself drops off sooner than I'd like. Some musty flavors linger.

Thoughts

This is kind of a confusing thing, but I think I like it. The Makers Mark and the port finish seem to coexist with each other without actually integrating that much, which to some might seem like a detriment, but I think it makes for an interesting experiment.

At the end of the day, I do wish the port was a bit more integrated, or maybe a bit more subtle. MMCS is a pretty good drink, but the port finishing was a bit overdone and covers up some of its good qualities. I'm not sure how to go about integrating this better (larger barrel? Less temperature fluctuation? Less time?), but this is an experiment worth continuing.

84/100