Star Hill Farm Whisky from Maker’s Mark
When Maker’s Mark debuted in the 1950s, the bourbon became known for a few things: Its distinctive square shaped bottle with a red wax seal on the neck, spelling whiskey without the “e” as a nod to the brand’s Scottish heritage, and for being a “wheated bourbon” — using red winter wheat as a flavoring grain rather than just rye.
It’s newest product, which debuts Tuesday, is a wheat whisky, so it doesn’t have any corn — a key ingredient in bourbon. It is named after Star Hill Farm, the 1,100-acre farm that is home to the Maker’s Mark Distillery. The plot was chosen by Maker’s Mark founders, Margie and Bill Samuels Sr., in 1953 for its water source and proximity to grain farmers. The bottle proclaims it is “locally grown whisky, farmed to showcase the include of our land. Nature as maker.”
Thinking about terroir is common in wine making and beginning to gain traction in whiskey production. Bruichladdich in Scotland began distilling whisky in the 2010s using only barley from Islay. Last year, the University of Kentucky established the Estate Whiskey Alliance with seven founding members. Star Hill Farm Whisky will be the first to carry an Estate Whiskey certification which means that it was produced entirely on the distillery estate, using grains sourced from estate owned or controlled land.
If you’re going to tout the farm and quality of grain your whisky is coming from, then it is also key to care about the soil. Maker’s Mark is also the first distillery to received certification from Regenified, a regenerative agriculture certification company.
To get the certification, farms must not only currently meet certain standards of regenerative agriculture, such as reducing the amount of soil disturbances like tillage and using cover crops to benefit the soil, but also show they are making improvements in their practices, said Salar Shemirani, the CEO at Regnefied. Maker’s Mark has committed to transitioning a million acres of conventional farmland to regenerative over the next three years.
Companies have different motivations for transitioning to regenerative agriculture, Shemirani said in an interview.
“The way we are producing food in our agricultural system is simply not sustainable. And not just from an environmental perspective, but from a land capacity and production and availability perspective,” Shemirani said. “The other one that is critical to the whole system is quality we are noticing that that quality of our crops is really diminishing. The carrots my mom would eat 20 or 30 years ago have 30% less nutritional availability now… Makers Mark really started in pursuit of flavor, and where flavor comes from.”
Maker’s Mark will have an impact on farmers around them in their supply chain, but also on other distilleries, Shemirani said. Regenified is currently working with two other distilleries working on getting their certification.
“I do believe that something extraordinary is happening,” he said. “If you’re as good and nimble and ambitious as Maker’s Mark to know where your grains come from, you want to support your farmers going down this path.”
The Maker’s Mark still house by wheat fields.
Controlling the agricultural product that goes into making the liquid has an impact on taste, said Rob Samuels, an eighth-generation whisky maker and managing director of Maker’s Mark who called the process a “10-year journey to unlock nature’s depth of flavor,” in a press release. resulting in something new from the Maker’s Mark Distillery,” Samuels said in a press release. “
The traditional mashbill for Maker’s Mark bourbon, is 70 percent corn, 16 percent red winter wheat and 14 percent malted barley. Star Hill Farm Whisky will change each year. The 2025 release is a blend of two seven and eight year old whiskies with two mashbills, one with 70% soft red winter wheat and 30% malted barley, and the other with 100% malted soft red winter wheat. Blended together, that ends up being 51% soft red winter wheat, 27% malted soft red winter wheat and 22% malted barley. It’s bottled at cask strength at 114.7 proof.
The result is a very different whisky than Maker’s Mark bourbon. It doesn’t have the corn sweetness, but does pack a more nuanced, spiced punch at the higher proof. Dr. Blake Layfield, the master distiller of Maker’s Mark, described the nose as having notes of buttery caramel, golden raisins and gingerbread, with honeyed toffee, chocolate-covered cherries, and a hint of apple pie spice on the palate. The finish is “smooth and inviting, with toasted pecans and soft cinnamon bringing it all together.”
The limited-time release will be available for $100.
