2018 Maker's Mark Justify Limited Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 1Lt

2018 Maker's Mark Justify Limited Edition is a commemorative one-liter bottling of Maker's Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky, bottled at the classic 90 proof (45% ABV) and released in October 2018 to honor Justify, the thirteenth winner of horse racing's Triple Crown. Produced by Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky - a brand whose ties to Thoroughbred country run generations deep - the bottle celebrated Justify's sweep of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes earlier that year.

The design tells the story at a glance. In place of the trademark red wax, each bottle is hand-dipped in bright green, echoing the green, white and black WinStar Farm racing silks that jockey Mike Smith wore in the Kentucky Derby, with the colt's colors carried across the label and bottle art. Justify's 2018 campaign was extraordinary: undefeated in six starts, he overcame sloppy tracks and elite fields to become the first horse since 1882 to win the Derby without having raced as a two-year-old, then completed the Triple Crown within four months of his debut.

The whisky inside is Maker's Mark's fully matured flagship: a wheated Kentucky straight bourbon made with soft red winter wheat in place of rye, aged to taste in hand-rotated barrels at Star Hill Farm. The release was accompanied by a signing event at Churchill Downs on October 29, 2018, where trainer Bob Baffert, jockey Mike Smith, WinStar president Elliot Walden and eighth-generation Maker's Mark distiller Rob Samuels autographed bottles, and by charitable contributions benefiting the Kentucky Derby Museum and the Ann Hanley Parkinson's Research Fund.

Maker's Mark commemorative bottles sit at the intersection of two passionate collecting worlds - bourbon and Kentucky horse racing - and Justify is among the most significant of them all, marking only the second Triple Crown in four decades. Signed examples from the Churchill Downs event are especially prized, but every bottle documents a genuine sporting milestone from the state where both the whisky and the winner were raised. As a one-liter, one-time edition, it remains a cornerstone piece for racing-themed bourbon collections.

• Size: 1L
• Proof: 90 (45% ABV)
• Age: No age statement; aged to taste
• Origin: Kentucky, USA
• Distillery: Maker's Mark Distillery, Loretto, KY
• Release: October 2018 Limited Edition
• Edition: Justify Triple Crown commemorative
• Wax: Green wax in WinStar Farm racing colors
• Mash Bill: Wheated (soft red winter wheat in place of rye)