Maker's Mark is easily the most consistent bourbon on the market today. Not many people realize that it's a wheater (i.e. same recipe as Weller) the coveted base for the Van Winkle bourbons. There's not a whole lot that separates what Maker's does from what happens at Buffalo Trace. The yeast strains are different. The Maker's stills are tall and skinny which makes a difference, but for what it's worth Maker's have become masters at replicating that special recipe, which Julian Van Winkle helped develop all those decades ago. He was making the best whiskey at the time in an "old fashioned" way (i.e. No chemists allowed! was the distillery motto) so why wouldn't you seek his advice when starting a distillery? Indeed, it was in Stitzle-Weller's image that Bill Samuels molded what would become one of the Country's most popular whiskey brands. After around six years, with a unique system of barrel management to encourage consistent aging, we get this ubiquitous and delicious whiskey marked with that special red top.