2020 Maker's Mark Founder's Series The Designer Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 1Lt

2020 Maker's Mark 1st Edition Founder's Series "The Designer" Margie Samuels Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 1Lt is a highly significant, museum-grade masterpiece of modern distilling history, engineered as an elite visual and liquid tribute to the co-founder whose brilliant eye shaped the entire aesthetic identity of premium American whiskey. Released in late 2020 as the monumental inaugural installment of the distillery's highly coveted Founder's Series, this rare 1-Liter expression honors Margie Samuels—the visionary marketing pioneer and Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame inductee who single-handedly invented the brand's name, its signature squarish bottle shape, the distinct hand-lettered label, and the legendary hand-dipped red wax seal. To celebrate her legacy, Maker's Mark completely broke away from its traditional clear look, encasing their prized wheated bourbon under a stunning custom label featuring specialized artwork by acclaimed Kentucky painter Aaron Kizer.

The core philosophy of this inaugural 2020 edition relies on celebrating how artisanal intuition and visual design can fundamentally elevate a heritage brand to a global benchmark of status. This 1st Edition release represents a highly restricted, finite bottling run that instantly became a prime target for high-intent spirits archivers and design historians upon hitting the market. To elevate its collector value to the ultimate tier, select premium examples from this rare vintage run were officially hand-signed trackside or at special distillery gallery events by artist Aaron Kizer himself. Rejecting mass-production shortcuts, every single large-format square bottle in this commemorative release was hand-labeled by Loretto artisans and physically hand-dipped into the hot crimson wax pots, creating a completely distinct wax tendril layout that can never be replicated.

Beneath its striking art-gallery silhouette rests the pristine, small-batch wheated mash bill that fundamentally revolutionized the global whiskey market when it first debuted in 1953. Dissatisfied with the sharp, throat-burning spice of mid-century rye-heavy formulas, the Samuels lineage famously burned the old family recipe and replaced rye with sweet, soft red winter wheat alongside local yellow corn and malted barley. Cooked using iron-free, calcium-rich water sourced directly from the distillery’s limestone-fed spring lakes, the new-make spirit is double-distilled in antique copper stills. The barrels undergo an intensive manual rotation program across multi-story rackhouses over the course of hot Kentucky summers, ensuring that the unhurried wood interaction delivers a remarkably soft, round, and universally approachable spirit profile bottled precisely at a time-tested 90 proof (45% ABV).

In the glass, this vintage-style bourbon presents a brilliant golden mahogany hue with exceptionally thick, heavy-clinging oil legs tracing the sides. The bouquet is deeply aromatic and complex, opening with an immediate invitation of sweet oak, rich vanilla custard, and freshly baked honeyed wheat bread, balanced gracefully by underlying hints of bright orchard fruits, caramelized cherry, and light seasoned wood. On the palate, a velvety, full-bodied mouthfeel coats the tongue with a decadent wave of creamed caramel, sweet maple syrup, and vanilla bean frosting, before seamlessly yielding to complex layers of warming cinnamon stick and gentle baking spices. The finish is remarkably sustained, clean, and comforting, slowly tapering off with a lingering trail of sweet wood tannins, light leather, and a sophisticated touch of peppery warmth.

• Size: 1 Litre (1Lt / 1000ml)
• Proof: 90 (45% ABV)
• Age: NAS (Meticulously aged to taste, typically spanning 6 to 7 years)
• Origin: Loretto, Kentucky, United States
• Distillery: Maker's Mark Distillery (Star Hill Farm)
• Style/Class: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Composition: Traditional Wheated Mash Bill (70% Corn, 16% Soft Red Winter Wheat, 14% Malted Barley)
• Cask/Aging: Aged in premium new charred American white oak barrels; fire-charred staves with a completely manual warehouse barrel rotation program
• Series/Edition: Maker's Mark Founders Series — 1st Edition "The Designer" Margie Samuels Commemorative Release (Featuring Artwork by Aaron Kizer)
• Tasting Notes: Rich vanilla custard, sweet oak, honeyed wheat bread, caramelized cherry, creamed caramel, sweet maple syrup, cinnamon stick, smooth warming finish