In December 2025, Wu Dram traveled to Loretto, Kentucky, where he had the privilege of working alongside the Maker's Mark team to create a bourbon with greater depth, spiciness, and complexity—one capable of fully showcasing the extraordinary potential of the Maker's Mark Private Selection program.

At the heart of every Maker's Mark Private Selection is a full-strength (barrel-strength) Maker's Mark bourbon that, after standard aging, is enriched with ten individually selected wooden staves for the finishing phase. The barrel is then returned to the legendary “Limestone Cellar” to age for another nine weeks: a naturally cool warehouse lined with limestone and characterized by consistently high humidity. This is the same cellar where the famous Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged is aged—an environment that promotes an exceptionally balanced and harmonious integration of the aging staves.
The Private Selection program offers five different types of cask staves. By combining them in various ways, it’s possible to create over 1,000 unique recipes, each of which gives rise to a distinctive flavor profile. Every Private Selection is, therefore, a truly one-of-a-kind product.

After extensive tasting sessions, the Wu Dram clan chose the following recipe:
0 × Baked American Pure 2
2 × Seared French Cuvée
3 × Maker's 46
3 × Roasted French Mocha
2 × Toasted French Spice

This combination was deliberately chosen to elevate Maker's Mark's classic profile to a richer and more complex level. The "Seared French Cuvée" stave adds depth and notes of dark fruit; "Maker's 46" contributes rich hints of vanilla and caramel; “Roasted French Mocha” imparts pronounced toasted aromas, with hints of cocoa and freshly roasted coffee; finally, “Toasted French Spice” enriches the whiskey with elegant spicy notes and a refined oak character.
The result is a highly expressive bourbon, characterized by extraordinary complexity, a bold spiciness, and a long, elegant finish. Despite its 55.4% alcohol by volume, the alcohol is perfectly integrated, demonstrating just how radically the choice of aging staves can influence the character of a bourbon.

270 bottles produced worldwide

70 Cl

55.4% by volume