Today we have a very rare 3-WAY battle!

FAE-01 is the 3rd in the Wood Finishing Series. These start with cask strength MM that is then finished in barrels containing the wood staves. There will be two releases for 2021. ‘FAE-01 focuses on flavors of dried fruit and oak by searing an American oak stave on one side while leaving the other side raw.” Let’s see how this compares!

2019 - RC6) 108.2 Proof
-The Nose is very inviting with initial tart funk, green grass, and banana, then clove, sweet vanilla, and oak.
-The Palate is sweet and fruity with notes of apples, creamy vanilla, caramel, and baking spices.
-The Finish is medium in length, with some black pepper, more sweet vanilla, and oak char.
Overall this is a very enjoyable expression of Maker’s that leans into fruit-forward flavors.

2020 - SE4xPR5) 110.8 Poof
-The Nose here is remarkably different, with more sweet-corn, caramel, and weathered oak, along with a slight barn-funk, and apple.
-The Palate starts with black pepper and baking spices, and quickly moves into sweet vanilla-icing, and then bitter-oak, and toasted coconut.
-The Finish is medium-long, with more toasted coconut, vanilla, and oak.
Overall this is also a very enjoyable version of Maker’s and remarkably different!

2021 - FAE-01) 110.6 Proof
-The Nose starts with butterscotch, vanilla, and oak, along with some hints of fruit-cake.
-The Palate starts with an explosion of vanilla sweet-cream and red fruits (cherry, strawberry, apples), then some oak char, tobacco, and cinnamon.
-The Finish is medium-long, with that cinnamon hanging on, some black pepper, oak char, and then at the very last those fruit notes reappear, asking you to take another sip!
Overall this is the most fruit-forward version of Maker’s yet!

VERDICT)
RC6 was my favorite Limited Maker’s Mark until now. 2021 takes the crown and is officially the best version of Maker’s I’ve ever had (including store-picks)! This is worth picking up MULTIPLE of if you see it. One note: it did take about a week of being open for those fruit notes to fully pop. Initially it was more butterscotch and oak.

What do you guys think??