Maker's Mark bourbon whisky- my personal favorite among bourbon whiskys, and one of a very few to use the Scottish spelling without the Irish and American “extra e.” Maker's Mark is distinctive for several reasons, some of which are cosmetic- like the Scottish spelling and the red wax seal on the unusually shaped bottles- while others are a matter of taste.

Take the ingredients, for example. Bourbon whiskeys are generally made from a mash containing rye and corn. When the creator of Maker's Mark was deciding on his recipe, he couldn't possibly know how the finished whisky would turn out after sitting in barrels for seven years.

So, he hit upon a test of his own devising to see which grain mixes would make the best mash for his new bourbon. He baked each of his grain mixes into bread, cut a slice off each loaf, and compared the flavors. The mix that made the best loaf of bread contained no rye, so Maker's Mark became a rye-free bourbon.

It's not that I don't enjoy other bourbons like Jim Beam or Jack Daniels. (They'll try to tell you Jack is not a bourbon but a “sour mash” whiskey- well, all bourbons are made from a sour mash, so it's six of one, half a dozen of the other!) It's just that Maker's Mark has a little something special, a hint of flavor I find just a bit more interesting. Plus, when you order a bourbon other than Jim or Jack, everyone just naturally assumes you must be some kind of an expert on the topic of bourbon, and you can't buy cachet like that.