Maker's Mark Distillery sits on Hardin Creek near Loretto, Kentucky, where Charles Burks is thought to have begun distilling around 1805.1,2 Bill Samuels Sr. bought the run-down plant in 1953 and in 1954 began distilling a bourbon made with wheat in place of rye.2,3,4 In 1980 it became a National Historic Landmark, and Suntory Global Spirits owns it today.3,5,6
The extra wood finish adds complexity, bringing caramelized nuts, forest honey, bitter chocolate, coffee, nutmeg and clove, with a long, cinnamon-laced finish.
A lovely, round bourbon highlighting vanilla and sweetness, balanced by aniseed, bitter almond, clove, toasted wood and dark roasted coffee.
Charles Burks probably used part of his grist mill as his distillery, or built a small addition to it.1,2 The distillery seems to have faded out after Burks and his sons died in 1831-32, until his great-grandson George R. Burks reopened it in 1889.1 George rebuilt the old mill as his still house, and an 1889 lien already lists Warehouse A, the Quart House and the Distiller's House.1 In 1896 the family incorporated the business as M. H. Chamberlain & Co.2 In 1905 George R. Burks sold thirds of the business to J. E. Bickett and J. H. Kearns, forming the Burks Spring Distilling Co.2
Frank Bickett refurbished the plant in 1935 and began making whiskey again in 1937.1,2 A continuous still, housed in a five-story tower on the still house, went into use in 1937.1,2 Arthur Cummins bought the plant in the early 1940s, Ed Kaiser of Glenmore Distilleries bought it next, and it shut down in 1951.2
On 1 October 1953, Bill Samuels Sr. paid $35,000 for the run-down distillery and its land.2,3,7 He chose soft red winter wheat over rye after testing recipes by baking bread, and distilled his first batch in February 1954.2,4,7 The family chose the farm for its water: a spring-fed, limestone-filtered lake.4
The distillery joined the National Register of Historic Places on 31 December 1974.3,8 On 16 January 1980 it was designated a National Historic Landmark, under the name Burks' Distillery.3,5
Maker's Mark was sold to Hiram Walker & Sons in 1981.3,9 Allied-Lyons acquired it in 1987, the year it also bought Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts, and renamed itself Allied Domecq in 1994.9,10 In 2005 Fortune Brands, owner of Jim Beam, bought Maker's Mark and its distillery from Pernod Ricard, which had gained it by buying Allied Domecq.3
Bottles in Peated distilled at Maker's Mark Distillery, by release year.
| Year distilled | Bottles |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2021 | 4 |
| 2022 | 2 |
| 2023 | 2 |
| 2024 | 3 |
| 2025 | 4 |
| 2026 | 8 |
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A second set of distilling equipment, copying the 1953 design, went in during 2005.12 In 2015 a third set of stills, fermenters and mash cookers started up, part of an expansion that also added nine warehouses.12,13 Each set runs on its own, so the plant works like three distilleries in one building.12,13 In 2016 the company blasted into a limestone hill to build a cellar that holds 2,000 barrels at 50 degrees or cooler.14
Bill Samuels Jr., son of the founders, oversaw Maker's Mark for 35 years before his son Rob took over in April 2011.3,9 In 2018 Denny Potter, back after years at Heaven Hill, replaced Greg Davis as master distiller.15 After Potter left, a team ran distilling for two years until Blake Layfield became master distiller in November 2024.16,17
It makes just one brand of bourbon, Maker's Mark.18 The mash ferments for three to four days in wooden vats.18 The spirit is distilled twice, first in a copper column still.18,19 It then goes through a copper pot still called a doubler, which has an onion top and is heated by steam coils.18,19
