Pleasant, sweet, toasty oak nose with caramel overtones. More intense aroma without an alcohol nose. Rich, creamy seared-oak flavors; caramel and vanilla notes linger on the front of the palate, but it is still soft enough to hold on the tongue even at 94 proof. A big mouth-watering oaky finish. Long with a little spice, staying forward on the palate without the bitter bite found in older whiskies. Not too long ago, while staying true to the craft and heritage of Maker's Mark, Master Distiller Kevin Smith began some lengthy "trial and error" to create something new and different. After more than a few failures and bad ideas, Kevin reached the conclusion that the foundation for any new whisky we create should ultimately be our original whiskey - fully matured Maker's Mark. So, with the help of barrel maker Brad Boswell, Kevin started over. Together, they began even more experimentation, realizing that their new creation simply couldn't come from artificial flavors, but, instead, it had to come naturally from grains and wood. In December 2009, one taste of the new product said it all - "We finally got it right."