Experience Christner’s Private Select Maker’s Mark®

Celebrate National Bourbon Heritage Month with a Maker’s Mark you’ve never tasted before. Christner’s partnered with Maker’s Mark to produce a distinct blend of tasting notes with the Private Select program. This brings you the same approachable bourbon Maker’s Mark is known for with a unique tasting experience exclusive to Christner’s. The single-barrel bourbon is only available for purchase in-person at Christner’s.

Purchase of a Christner’s Private Select bottle includes admission to a private, virtual event hosted by Maker’s Mark Distillery Diplomat, DeNiro Fisher. Peek behind the curtain of the Private Select process, learn about the reinvention of bourbon through Maker’s Mark unique process, and be guided through the tasting notes you’ll find in your own bottle of Christner’s Private Select bourbon.

Virtual events will be held on September 21 or 24 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Advance registration is required and space is limited. Be sure to provide your email address upon purchase to receive login instructions.

How Maker’s Mark Reinvented Bourbon

Bourbon has been distilled and served since the 1800s. But until Maker’s Mark left its mark on bourbon, this whiskey had a reputation for being bitter and burning at the back of the throat. This reputation was restored in 1958 (five years after the Maker’s Mark brand was founded) with the first run of bottles, complete with the iconic red wax seal.

Bourbon has transformed from a bottom shelf liquor to a valued drink of many because of Bill and Margie Samuels dedication to improving bourbon.

Development of a Full-Flavored Bourbon Through Careful Experimentation

The careful process of aging, waiting, and adjusting would take years. Bill decided to speed up his timeline by baking several loaves of bread with a variety of grain combinations instead of distilling them. This clever thinking on his behalf helped push the Maker’s Mark brand to shelves faster. But, more than that, it gave him the ability to make minor tweaks and adjustments to create the precise recipe we know and love today.

Changed to Wheat to Produce a Delicately Sweet and Approachable Bourbon

The careful experimentation with loaves of bread also led to another pivotal decision—red winter wheat instead of the traditional rye grain. Wheat bourbon creates a much more approachable taste, giving Maker’s Mark its delicate sweetness that is a signature to the brand. Gone are the days of bitter, unenjoyable bourbon.

Distilled at a Lower Temperature for a Clean and Balanced Experience

Maker’s Mark bourbon is distilled at a lower temperature. This keeps the delicate flavor and aroma of the wheat for a clean and balanced drinking experience.

Besides the lower temperature, the bourbon also has a low entry point when it goes into being distilled. This results in the reduction of tannins which eliminates bitterness and creates an overall smoother bourbon.

Hand-Rotation of Each Barrel Ensures Consistency in Quality

The 525-pound barrels used for aging Maker’s Mark bourbon are rotated by hand for proper exposure to the different temperatures in the rackhouse. While other distillers have stopped this traditional process, Maker’s Mark continues it in an effort to maintain quality and consistency barrel after barrel.

Each barrel starts at the top of the rackhouse where it expands in the warmer temperatures and pulls color and flavor from the wood. It is only when the experts on their tasting panel okay the bourbon, that the barrel is moved down into cooler sections.

Christner’s Meets Maker’s Mark

Through the Maker’s Mark Private Selection program, Christner’s has developed our own unique expression of this known and loved whiskey. We have made this bourbon our own and now want to share it with you.

Maker’s Mark Private Selection offers a new take on the Maker’s Mark 46™ process. It begins with cask-strength Maker’s Mark and is aged for nine additional weeks in barrels specially fitted with 10 wood-finishing staves in our limestone cellar. Where Private Selection separates itself from Maker’s Mark 46 is barrel customization using five different stave types. This results in over 1,001 different possible combinations. As single-barrel bourbons, all expressions of Maker’s Mark Private Selection are bottled at cask strength – which ranges from 108-114 proof.

How Our Bourbon Is Different

Christner’s Private Select bourbon has been aged for 5 ¾ to 7 years with finishing of 9 weeks in cold conditions using our personal selection of staves. With that said, what makes Christner’s Private Selection Maker’s Mark so different from every other Maker’s Mark bourbon? It’s all in the staves.

What Are Staves and How Do They Affect Flavor?

Staves are the slices of wood used to assemble the aging barrel. These can also be presented as smaller blocks of wood for the aging of individual bottles. These add a little something extra and create a more distinguished and targeted flavor experience presenting flavors from caramel to vanilla, and toasted to roasted coffee among other flavors.

Unique Blend of Staves

The combination of staves is exclusive to Christner’s and creates the same high-quality bourbon with a unique twist on flavor you can only get at Christner’s. Take a peek at our custom selected staves used to age our bourbon.

Maker’s Mark 46

Three Maker’s Mark 46 staves are used in aging our bourbon. This brings notes of dried fruit, vanilla, and spice. If you’re familiar with Maker’s Mark 46 you’ll likely be familiar with the flavors this stave presents.

Baked American Pure

Two Baked American Pure staves are used in aging bourbon. This brings notes of brown sugar, vanilla, caramel, and spice.

Seared French Cuvée

Three Seared French Cuvée staves are used in aging our bourbon. This stave is prepared by cooking it in infrared heat. It presents toasty notes of oak and caramel.

Roasted French Mocha

One Roasted French Mocha stave is used in aging our bourbon. This stave is prepared with high temperatures in a convection oven. It presents traces of char, maple, and cacao to the flavor profile of our bourbon.

Toasted French Spice

One Toasted French Spice stave is used in aging our bourbon. This stave is prepared at high and low heat in a convection oven. It presents smoke, coumarin, and spice into the flavor profile of the bourbon.

Meet Distillery Diplomat, Deniro Fisher

With the purchase of a bottle of Private Select Maker’s Mark, you will receive access to an exclusive, virtual event hosted by distillery diplomat, DeNiro Fisher.

Virtual events will be held on September 21 or 24 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Advance registration is required and space is limited. Be sure to provide your email address upon purchase to receive login instructions.

DeNiro Fisher is a storyteller and educator for the Maker’s Mark brand. During the event, he’ll cover:

• The rich history of Maker’s Mark
• Details and processes about the Private Select program
• Maker’s Mark’s reinvention of bourbon
• The making of Christner’s Private Select
• Tasting notes of Christner’s Private Select bourbon

He will allow plenty of time to answer your questions about Maker’s Mark or Christner’s Private Select at the conclusion of the event.

Visit us in-person at our Orlando location to purchase your exclusive Christner’s Private Select bottle today.

For informational purposes only.