Maker’s 46 Bourbon

Updated April 2026

Maker’s 46 is the stave-finished Maker’s — same wheated Kentucky straight bourbon, then ten seared French oak staves — typically 94 proof / 47% ABV on US and Virginia ABC tiles. The 2024 catalog row matches 47%. The catalog description was only “packaging may vary,” so we did not invent a house nose from that row. Hub: Maker’s Mark.

Size ABV Style Origin
750 mL 47% / 94 proof (typical US) Kentucky straight bourbon, French-oak finish United States — Kentucky

What the bottle actually is

Process, from the brand and from Virginia ABC: start with fully matured cask-strength Maker’s, insert seared virgin French oak staves, finish in a limestone cellar (ABC says about nine weeks). The number 46 is a stave-recipe name, not an age. Proof is 94 on the VA ABC product tile (47.0% / 94.0). Read the neck; cask-strength 46 is a different SKU.

A 1.5-ounce pour at 47% is about 1.18 standard drinks. Compare the 90-proof flagship on Maker’s Mark bourbon and the magazine vs-guide Maker’s vs 46.

Lab notes

No ReserveBar nose/palate/finish on this row. Virginia ABC tasting language, rewritten: mildly sweet, layered vanilla and baking spice, long velvety finish, more oak than the red-wax bottle without the bitterness of simply leaving it in new char longer. That is an ABC blurb, not a TTB tasting sheet. We will not add cherry-cola we did not source.

Related: Maker’s 101 · vs Woodford.

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