Review: Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2025

Now in its third year of release, Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged continues to showcase its impressive depth and exuberant flavor. I was so enamored of the last two releases that I took a trip to the distillery earlier this year to check out the cellar in question — actually more of a cave carved into a limestone hillside than a cellar dug underground — and found it a place of quiet beauty, only in part because a giant Dale Chihuly sculpture hangs in the middle of it. It’s also a cool respite from the hot Kentucky air outside its doors — and standing her for a minute or two helps you understand why aging Maker’s Mark for more than a decade in this climate ultimately makes for a much different experience than the six-ish year old whiskey that ages in those hot wooden rickhouses a few miles away.

This 2025 offering is older than the previous two releases, at least in part. As they say, Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged is “aged to taste, not time” – with a blend of 11-, 13-, and 14-year-old Maker’s Mark barrels forming its backbone. The total proportions are actually disclosed, with the 2025 a blend of 74% 11-year-old, 10% 13-year-old, and 16% 14-year-old bourbon. (On average, 2025 is actually a younger whiskey than the 2024 release.)

Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2025 Review

Once again, Maker’s Mark has a home run on its hands, with a crowd-pleasing whiskey that nevertheless offers ample depth. The nose shows off some spice, an appetizer that soon winds its way into notes of wood, a bit heartier and more tannic than you expect. My spidey-senses want to tell me that there’s rye in the whiskey based on the nose, even though I know better, thanks to an unusually grassy character that’s well evident. The longer it spends in glass, the more earthy and gritty it seems to get.

The whiskey perks up right away on the palate, where a bold cherry note fires immediately. A little torched and scorched, the palate melds Maraska cherry with boysenberry and butterscotch, giving the whiskey a fruit pie quality, complete with toasty crust and lots of cinnamon. Cherry and cinnamon continue to dominate the palate well into the finish, which layers in touches of chocolate and cloves — later some cardamom.

I’m out of the 2024 release for comparison’s sake, but I do have some 2023 on hand and the results are strikingly different, with 2025 more evocative of Eastern spices and the 2023 clearly showcasing chocolate overtones. I like them both, but 2025 reminds me more of the frontier. 2024 remains my top pick.

112.9 proof.

A- / $175 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]

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