How Maker’s Mark Crafted a New Wheat Whiskey That’s Unlike Its Beloved Bourbons
When it comes to wheated bourbon, there are a few names that usually come to mind: Pappy Van Winkle, of course, but also Garrison Brothers, Larceny, Old Fitzgerald, and Maker’s Mark. That last distillery, which is owned by Suntory Global Spirits, has made bourbon from just one mashbill that uses red winter wheat instead of rye as a flavoring grain since the 1950s—until now. Tomorrow, Maker’s Mark will release the brand-new Star Hill Farm Whisky, a wheat whiskey, and we visited the distillery this past winter to get an exclusive look.
Star Hill Farm Whisky, which is named after the 1,100-acre farm that surrounds the distillery in Loretto, Kentucky, is a blend of two different mashbills: one with 70 percent soft red winter wheat and 30 percent malted barley, the other with 100 percent malted soft red winter wheat. That is very different from the mashbill for Maker’s Mark bourbon, which is 70 percent corn, 16 percent red winter wheat, and 14 percent malted barley. The final blend for Star Hill Farm was aged for seven to eight years (each component was aged separately) and bottled at cask strength of 57.35 percent ABV or 114.7 proof.
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According to master distiller Dr. Blake Layfield, another key difference between the bourbon and Star Hill Farm Whisky was the way it was matured. Star Hill Farm is being released in a very small batch of just 300 barrels, about 60 percent of which were regular new charred oak and 40 percent of which were “experimental vessels.” Specifically, those were American oak, French oak, American-French hybrid, and grooved barrels (the grooves increase the surface area, which Layfield says has a strong influence on the whiskey’s flavor and mouthfeel). Also, the barrels were not rotated by hand as they are for the bourbon, which lead blender Beth Buckner says was an attempt to let nature be the guiding force. “Think about a chef—you take the best ingredients that you have from nature and use them, which is what we’ve done with Star Hill Farm,” she said. “We let nature really dictate the flavor by not rotating barrels and using different barrel types, and by blending all of those together we got to create the best version [this whiskey].”
I got to try Star Hill Farm Whisky at the distillery, and it’s very good—and, most importantly, very different from Maker’s Mark bourbon. There are notes of caramel, citrus, cherry, grape, and a little minerality on the palate, along with cinnamon, honey, and a bit of milk chocolate followed by a warm finish. Eighth-generation whisky maker and managing director Rob Samuels (grandson of founder Bill Samuels) said that part of the challenge was that he hadn’t really tried a wheat whiskey that he liked before. “I tasted everything out there, and to be honest, most of them were a little disappointing,” he said. “So the wheels started turning with our team about what a wheat whiskey could be if you took it back to the soil, back to the flavor, if we were really intentional about starting with the best possible ingredients.”
Star Hill Farm will also be the first whiskey to be certified by the Estate Whiskey Alliance, an organization created by the University of Kentucky in 2023 with Maker’s as one of the founding members. The qualifications are that all steps of production, from milling to maturation, must be done onsite, and at least two-thirds of the grains are grown on land owned or controlled by the estate. “One of the bigger things in our industry, especially in the last five years, is the rise of NDPs, or non-distiller producers,” said Layfield. While many (not all) NDPs are pretty transparent these days, he maintains that this added level of transparency will be important to consumers. “The EWA guidelines say that you made this product, you milled it, mashed it, bottled it at your distillery, and it’s not someone else’s juice. It also says that you’ve partnered with your growers to control all the agricultural components. So that gives you that sense of place, that regionality of terroir, and speaks to a partnership with agriculture and farmers.”
According to Samuels, coming up with a new whiskey that’s both pioneering and innovative was a challenge for a “classic” brand that’s nearly 75 years old, but he believes that Star Hill Farm Whisky is just that—and that his grandfather would have been proud of it. “Everything that we’ve created here is born out of our founding vision,” he said. “Some people roll their eyes when we say that, but that is the North Star for everything we do—not just quality and consistency, but the culture and the engagement of the team, the stewardship of the land, and the spirit of hospitality… and then, of course, the whiskeys we make.”
Star Hill Farm Whisky 2025 Release (SRP $100) will be available in limited numbers at select retailers starting the second week of May. You can also purchase a bottle at the distillery when you book a Star Hill Farm Whisky experience starting on Earth Day, April 22. And you can find the rest of the Maker’s Mark lineup available to purchase now at ReserveBar.
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