Do you know the story behind the famous Maker's Mark red wax seal?
Although you’ve probably heard of the popular Kentucky bourbon, there’s plenty that even
the biggest alcohol aficionado might not know.
Continue watching for all the deets on Maker's Mark!
Cocktail lovers in this day and age are accustomed to seeing a fancy bourbon-based drink on most
bar menus, but that wasn't always the case.
According to Serious Eats, bourbon was hard to come by during the early-20th century thanks
to Prohibition and World War II.
By the time the spirit was more widely available in the 1950s, it had garnered a blue collar
reputation, and many liquor lovers stuck their noses up at the beverage.
Enter William "Bill" Samuels Sr. — the founder of Maker's Mark.
He not only had the crazy idea to re-imagine bourbon as a craft spirit, but also to sell
his product at the then luxury price of seven bucks.
This was a gamble in 1957, considering there was not a market for high-end bourbon at the time.
But it wasn't until the 1980s that the Samuels family's risk really started to pay off.
This was when Samuels Sr. convinced airlines to offer Maker's Mark on flights.
This proved to be a gamechanger for the brand.
Bill Samuels Jr., who succeeded his father as the head of Maker's Mark, told Whiskey
Magazine:
"It created consumer interest outside Kentucky and gave the brand credibility."
While the Samuels family has been in the whiskey business for generations, Bill Samuels Sr.'s
son — Bill Samuels Jr. — didn't immediately join the family trade.
Despite growing up in Kentucky bourbon country as the godson of liquor legend Jim Beam, Samuels
Jr.'s early career actually took him way out of his world.
In college, he decided to study engineering and eventually landed a job working on the
Gemini and Polaris rockets, TheStreet explains.
Samuels Jr. ultimately left his unique career as a rocket scientist in the early 1970s to
follow his equally unique family tradition of distilling craft whiskey.
But returning to his roots had its own pressures.
When Samuels Jr. ultimately took over as president of Maker's Mark in 1975, his father gave him
some sage advice:
"Just don't screw up the whiskey."
"They might kill you for that.
For what you're doing to that whiskey.
Brutalizing it."
Did he succeed?
The proof, as they say, is in the barrels.
Maker's Mark made smart choices in developing brand recognition over the past decades, but
in 2013 the company also almost made one that would've derailed its reputation.
With bourbon booming across the United States, Maker's Mark faced what many would consider
a lucky problem: The demand for its whiskey had grown exponentially.
But while other bourbon brands might've called on third-party manufacturers to produce more
barrels, Maker's Mark prides itself on only being produced in one location — at its
own distillery in Loretto, Kentucky.
The company needed to decide how to meet its new demand, and made a judgment call to slightly
reduce the proof of its namesake bourbon from 45 percent to 42 percent.
The response was an immediate uproar from fans.
Maker's Mark's leadership insisted they had conducted numerous taste tests and noticed
no difference between the versions.
But according to Time, bartenders across the country — the same ones who Samuels Jr.
had spent his career winning over — were now threatening to ditch the product.
They said a lesser proof would dilute the bourbon and not offer the same quality spirit
as before.
Ultimately, Maker's Mark's devotees won out and the company announced it would not tweak
the bourbon's recipe.
Instead, the company opted to spend $67 million to expand its distillery operations and accommodate
the increased demand, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Maker's Mark's headquarters, located 45 minutes south of Louisville, isn't just noteworthy
for being home to all of the company's bourbon production.
The distillery is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated
a National Historic Landmark in 1980.
According to the Kentucky Historical Society, the site has a storied history of producing
spirits that predates the Samuels, beginning as a gristmill distillery operated by the
Burks family in the early 1800s.
The property stayed in the family for four generations, all of whom are rumored to have
had something to do with the whiskey trade.
This included forming Burks Spring Distilling Co. in 1905.
In 1953, Bill Samuels Sr. purchased the property to house Maker's Mark.
His wife, Margie Samuels, took a particular interest in the history of the distillery.
Per the Maker's Mark website, Margie is credited by some as being the inventor of whiskey tourism.
She convinced her husband to put as much money into restoring the distillery and its grounds
as he did for bourbon manufacturing.
Margie envisioned the space as being a draw for visitors for more than just its whiskey production.
It is thanks to her devotion that thousands of tourists walk through the gate to visit
the distillery's red trimmed buildings — and taste some great bourbon while they're at it.
If you love all things bourbon, why not make a trip out of it?
The Kentucky Bourbon Trail offers whiskey fans an opportunity to explore 41 different
bourbon-producing distilleries across the state.
The trail was created in 1999 to celebrate the spirit which is synonymous with Kentucky.
The company's headquarters offers more than just a chance to admire the previously mentioned
historic buildings on site; you can actually become part of the bourbon production process.
Visitors to Maker's Mark have the opportunity to hand-dip their own bottles in the company's
signature red wax.
The tour costs $20 bucks for adults and no ticket sales are available on site.
Foodies will also find something to enjoy at Maker's Mark's headquarters.
The location includes Star Hill Provisions, a restaurant featuring small plates and fancy
cocktails, featuring bourbon, of course.
Most of the restaurant's dishes feature ingredients grown on the on-site farm, and the menu changes seasonally.
If you need a place to lodge, consider staying at the Maker's Mark family home.
Rooms at the Samuels House are available to rent with prices starting at $850 dollars
per night.
"Yeah man, I want to check into my room."
"Of course.
And while I finish your reservation, can I offer you a complimentary glass of champagne?"
"Yes, please."
Maker's Mark's fans can also thank Margie Samuels for the bourbon's name as well as
some other signature branding features.
According to the Maker's Mark website, Margie owned a large collection of 19th century cognac
bottles, which typically are sealed with red wax.
While her husband was perfecting his bourbon recipe, Margie also was playing around in
the kitchen.
She melted red wax in the same fryer which typically was used to cook fried chicken and
developed Maker's Mark's signature seal.
Another of Margie's collections inspired Maker's Mark's name, the company notes.
She owned a number of fine pewter pieces, and metalworkers would include a signature
of sorts — a "maker's mark" — on their best work.
In addition to inspiring the company's name, the concept of a "mark of the maker" became
part of the bourbon packaging itself.
Margie designed an insignia that can be found on Maker's Mark's bottles to this day.
It includes a star to represent Star Hill Farm, where the family lived, an "S" for Samuels,
and the Roman Numerals IV to symbolize the multigenerational distilling history in the family.
Margie's numerous contributions to the Maker's Mark brand earned her a spot in the Kentucky
Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2014.
She was the first woman inducted based on her work on behalf of a distillery.
At a time when many beverage companies have automated parts of their operations for efficiency,
Maker's Mark is still committed to craft.
And sometimes craft takes a while to get right.
Per the Maker's Mark website, an old joke at the distillery is:
"If we could make it any faster, we wouldn't."
One time-consuming part of the distilling process for Maker's Mark is it still rotates
its whiskey barrels by hand to ensure optimum temperature exposure.
Other aspects of the company's aging process are equally as old-fashioned.
For example, the Master Distiller and an expert tasting panel use taste as opposed to a set
amount of years to determine when a barrel has finished aging, The Whisky Shop reports.
Bourbon barrels aren't considered ready until they've spent a minimum of three sweltering
Kentucky summers at the top of the rack house.
Through this process, the whiskey gains color and flavor as it expands through the wood.
According to the Maker's Mark website, batches typically take six to seven years to be aged
to perfection.
Maker's Mark is only distilled at its own location in Kentucky, but the company's commitment
to keeping things local goes beyond the bourbon production itself.
Most of the components of the whiskey also are grown nearby.
"Okay this is local?"
"Yes, absolutely."
According to the Maker's Mark website, the company partners with a local farm to source
the red winter wheat that is so crucial to the bourbon's flavor profile.
However, wheat only makes up 16 percent of the "mash."
Seventy percent of the blend is corn, which also is grown on a local farm.
Barley rounds out the remainder of the recipe.
High-quality local water also plays a crucial role at Maker's Mark, which is the only distillery
that has its own water source and watershed, according to the Maker's Mark website.
The region's groundwater has a limestone aquifer that acts as a sort of natural filter, producing
water rich in calcium and magnesium that is ideal for fermenting yeast.
For all of its commitment to keeping bourbon production within Kentucky, Maker's Mark isn't
technically owned by anyone in the Bluegrass State — or anyone in the United States in general.
The company is still "steered" by the Samuels family, but is actually a part of Beam Suntory
Inc., which is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan.
Other well-known Beam Suntory whiskey brands include Jim Beam and Knob Creek; it also owns
a number of cognac, tequila, and vodka brands.
"For a relaxing time, make it Suntory time."
When Suntory Holdings acquired Beam back in 2014, consumers were told that nothing would
change with their beloved spirits, according to NBC News.
And so far, that promise appears to have been kept.
Suntory Holdings certainly knows a thing or two about whiskey, after all.
The company's beverage empire includes the Yamazaki brand, which is produced in the oldest
commercial distillery in Japan.
For its first 50-plus years in business, Maker's Mark only produced one product: its namesake
bourbon, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
The year before Bill Samuels Jr. retired as CEO and president of the Maker's Mark, he
helped launch Maker's Mark 46, the first new product since the company's founding.
The well-received variety became the "swan song" of his storied career, according to
Drink Spirits.
Maker's Mark 46 differs from the company's flagship bourbon because it is aged for eight
to 12 months longer in barrels containing French oak staves.
A few years after the successful launch of Maker's Mark 46, the company added another
new product: Maker's Mark Cask Strength.
The offering is bourbon that comes straight from the cask without additional proofing.
It was bartenders who tasted bourbon out of the cask when visiting the distillery that
really drove the product launch, Maker's Mark Master Distiller Greg Davis told Drink Spirits.
You might not look to bourbon distillers as leaders in fighting climate change, but Maker's
Mark is certainly making waves in the area.
In January 2022, the company announced that it became the largest distillery in the world
to earn B Corporation, or B Corp, certification — meaning it meets environmental and social
sustainability standards.
One way the company is reducing its environmental footprint is through its zero waste to landfill program.
All the waste at the distillery will be either recycled or repurposed in some way, down to
Maker's Mark bottles, which are pulverized into sand for use in hiking trails across
the property.
The distillery also has taken great strides to preserve the important water source it
relies on for its bourbon production.
It created a 33-acre natural water sanctuary that protects the water by protecting the
forest around it.
The trees are essential to purifying, regenerating and replenishing the water supply by acting
as a sort of natural filter.
Maker's Mark even looked at the sustainability of the source of its bourbon barrels: white
oak trees.
To make sure they were around for future generations of distillers, the company opened a research
repository for the trees that serves as a "living laboratory" for scientists, according
to the Maker's Mark website.
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