2001 Makers Mark It's That Time of Year Again Blue/Red Wax Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky 1Lt

2001 Maker's Mark "It's That Time of Year Again" Blue & Red Wax Limited Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky 1Lt is a spectacular, museum-grade crown jewel of collegiate athletics and historic Bluegrass distilling history. Released in late December 2001, this highly coveted 1-Liter expression stands proudly as an irreplaceable piece of sports culture, meticulously engineered to commemorate the legendary NCAA basketball rivalry between the University of Kentucky (UK) Wildcats and the University of Louisville (UofL) Cardinals. Marking their high-stakes showdown on December 29, 2001, Maker's Mark completely broke away from its classic single-color packaging traditions. The squarish bottle features a custom, themed "It's That Time of Year Again" holiday promotional label and is beautifully finished with a distinctive, double-dipped blue and red holiday wax presentation representing the official school colors of both powerhouse programs.

The cultural philosophy driving this coveted 2001 rivalry release captures the raw, unmatched passion of the Battle for the Bluegrass. Because these bottles were issued as a limited seasonal promotion, a massive portion of the initial allocation was eagerly popped open and consumed by fans during the winter sports season, rendering intact, sealed pristine examples an extraordinary rarity for modern spirits archivers. To heighten its status as the ultimate sports trophy, select examples from this rare vintage run feature the final game score handwritten directly onto the glass body. Every single bottle was subjected to intense hands-on care at Star Hill Farm in Loretto, Kentucky, where distillery artisans carefully hand-applied the custom sports-heritage labels and manually double-dipped the bottlenecks into separate pots of custom blue and red wax, ensuring that the cascading wax tendrils on each collector's item are completely distinct.

Beneath its striking blue-and-red rivalry silhouette rests the classic, small-batch wheated recipe that fundamentally revolutionized the global whiskey market when it first debuted in 1953. Dissatisfied with the sharp, nose-burning spice of mid-century rye-heavy formulas, founder Bill Samuels Sr. 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 bypasses the harshness of automated mass production to deliver a remarkably soft, round, and universally approachable spirit profile bottled precisely at a time-tested 90 proof (45% ABV).

In the glass, this vintage 2001 bourbon presents a beautiful, deep copper amber color with heavy, slow-moving oil legs tracing the sides. The bouquet is extraordinarily elegant, complex, and inviting, opening with upfront notes of warm vanilla custard, rich caramel sauce, and freshly baked honeyed wheat bread, cut gently by seasoned oak char, old leather, and soft butterscotch. On the palate, a thick, velvety texture coats the mouth, delivering a balanced blend of toasted almond paste, sweet creamed corn, and sweet maple syrup, before yielding to complex layers of warming cinnamon bark, dark orchard fruits, and delicate baking spices. The finish is remarkably extended, smooth, and clean, rolling off with lingering trails of vanilla bean, subtle wood smoke, and a sophisticated touch of dry 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 Whisky
• 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: "It's That Time of Year Again" Limited Holiday Promotional Release (Commemorating the Dec. 29, 2001 UK vs. UofL Rivalry Game)
• Tasting Notes: Warm vanilla custard, rich caramel, honeyed wheat bread, sweet corn, dark orchard fruit, cinnamon bark, seasoned oak char, smooth warming finish