With the New Orleans Bourbon Festival right around the corner, now is as good a time as ever to take a look at some of their 2019 single barrel picks in a series of short reviews.  A lot of the whiskies in this series are still available in certain New Orleans retail stores and will be poured at the 2019 New Orleans Bourbon Festival.

Maker’s Mark Private Select is a great way to put your personal touch on a “single barrel” of the bourbon.  You can read more about the process here.  For the 2019 New Orleans Bourbon Festival Private Select, co-founders Barbara & Tracy Napolitano, Martin Wine Cellar’s Jeff Hirtius, and others (including myself) sat through one of the first remote programs for the whisky.  Generally, MMPS is done at the distillery.  Regrettably,  I had to leave before the final oak finishing stave combination was chosen.

For the 2019 New Orleans Bourbon Festival edition of Maker’s Mark Private Select, the following oak staves were chosen:

• 3 Baked American Pure 2
• 1 Seared French Cuvee
• 3 Roasted French Mocha
• 3 Toasted French Spice

Thinking back to my memories of tasting each of the stave finishes, I really enjoyed what those last two brought to Maker’s Mark whisky.

This edition is bottled at 110.1 proof.  The nose features spiced caramel, espresso, kettle corn, and vanilla bean.  Taste-wise, that rich caramel hinted at on the nose kicks things off here.  Vanilla cake follows just as baking spices develop.  Towards the back palate, dark-roasted coffee and some toasted oak darken things a bit.  The medium-length finish continues those rich, sweet, and spicy flavors.

This is kind of like eating coffee cake while drinking some espresso.  It’s quite tasty, and is perfect as an after-dinner pour.  I really like Private Select as a concept.  The different combinations of barrel staves can bring about some fantastic whisky.  That’s certainly true here.  8.5/10