Drink of the Week: Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon 2025

September is Bourbon Heritage Month, and kicking off the celebration always calls for something classic. But can a classic bourbon also be contemporary at the same time? That’s where our drink of the week comes in: Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2025 Bourbon.

In bourbon circles, Maker’s Mark needs no introduction. With its inception in 1953, founders Margie and Bill Samuels, Sr. swapped soft red winter wheat for the traditional rye in a bourbon mashbill. This smooth, gentle approach won over one whiskey drinker at a time, making Maker’s Mark a globally recognized brand.

Understandably, Maker’s Mark has been averse to changing its formula. But there are other avenues to building new expressions that don’t require tinkering with the recipe. By constructing a LEED-certified cellar in the natural limestone shelf surrounding their Star Hill Farm distillery, Maker’s Mark created additional options for developing flavor. 

Bourbon’s matured in oak barrels that are typically stored in large rickhouses, where Kentucky’s wide climate swings coax plenty of character from the wood while concentrating flavor through the “angel’s share” of evaporation. Older expressions can have a pronounced oak aspect that comes across as bitter and astringent, but the limestone cellar offers Maker’s Mark a different way to go.

For Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2025, the bourbon starts off in a standard rickhouse and is aged identically to the brand’s flagship whiskey. But after several years, instead of heading to the bottling line, the barrels are transferred to the cooler climate of the limestone cellar. Over the course of years—the 2025 release is a blend of 11-year-old, 13-year-old, and 14-year-old barrels—the bourbon matures more gently and experiences less evaporative loss. Along the way, it picks up graceful notes of caramel, coconut, and baked apples, without the harshness or bitterness that can overtake other bourbons of similar age.

Everything about the classic Maker’s Mark still exists in the new expression—the gentle, wheated softness, the bright tones of fruit, the richness of brown sugar. But with deeper tones of baking spice and touches of fudge, toasted nuts, and orange peel, 2025’s cellar-aged expression strikes a new, contemporary posture at the same time. Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2025 will be available in the United States and other markets starting in mid-September. $175, makersmark.com

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