Maker's Mark bourbon - faux wax seal?

[Veggo]

Anyone else tired of the dripping plastic over the cap? That ain't wax. You could build aircraft wings with that stuff, and not the Icarus kind. Or slice your hand or wrist trying to get to the innards. My happy hour was delayed 12 minutes yesterday for the marketing schtick. It should include a Band-aid. 2 thumbs down, but fortunately still attached...

[sr44]

I saw something on TV (Food Network? seems unlikely, but it was a while ago when food was a concern) showing Maker's Mark employees happily dipping the bottle tops into a red substance. Every hundred or so, they got to dip deeper and make a special swirl.

[ellaystingray]

I can confirm every single bottle of Maker's Mark is hand dipped. AND, yes, every now and then, they do something called a "Slam Dunk" where a great deal more of the bottle is covered in the red wax including sometimes part of the label (though not any of the important parts as far as the TTB is concerned). However, it is less frequent than every 100 bottles. FWIW, it is way harder than it seems. My bottles looked like a epileptic chimpanzee dipped them. And that was before the tasting.

[ScubaSteve]

i remember that the dippers do the slam dunk when a grain trolley goes by the finishing bottle line, about 3-4 times per day.

[INDIANRIVERFL]

Disclaimer, I have been a MM ambassador for over a dozen years.

First had it at Ft Knox in 1977. Took the tour guided by the owner's sister, if I remember correctly. The whisky was regional then, and we got to meet a couple of the dippers. They had examples showing that each dipper had their own style. I always searched for the bottle with the long tail down the back as I got to meet the lady that made them.

Originally, the sealing wax had a purpose as the stopper was originally natural cork, and there was a possibility of it drying out or popping off due to temperature change. The wax coating in that style happens to be a registered trademark.

Our tour guide told a couple of stories about herself and the difficulty of sometimes finding the little tape and removing the stopper. Somethings never change.

[kattyeyes]

That's interesting info, fellow ambassador! Very cool.

[JB BANNISTER]

I stop by twice a year and YOU CAN DIP YOUR OWN BOTTLE in the gift shop. I only do slam dunks as I use them for gifts and I am able to write on the was that covers the front.

[kattyeyes]

Sounds fun--I hope to get there someday!

[JB BANNISTER]

It is sealing wax NOT candle wax. Please SUCK IT UP an move on.

[kattyeyes]

+1, JB...never had an issue with opening my Maker's...or Maker's 46...and the latter bottle proudly rocks a Maker's Mark sweater because I am a bigtime Maker's lover and ambassador...regardless of my tiny wrists and four hand surgeries before I hit the ripe ol' age of 30!

But heck, crack a bottle of Wathen's Kentucky Bourbon Single Barrel if you can't deal with the seal! Not you, JB...

[Veggo]

must tend to my cat scratch fever...

[kattyeyes]

LOLOL! Hissssssssssssssssssssssss!

[malibumike]

I totally agree flav and jb.

[JB BANNISTER]

I may have been drinking when I wrote the above. Please take no offence.

[Veggo]

I love you like a brother, JB. Carry on.

[flavrmeistr]

It's sealing wax, not candle wax. Nothing out of the ordinary. You can buy a stick of it in the stationery to seal your letters. What's the big deal?

[scubadoo97]

Although I don't have any Maker's Mark in the house the Willett and Knob Creek wax tops are I fear the same type of wax. Both of these bottles have pull tabs imbedded in the wax

[ncyankee101]

I don't recall having any problem with my Knob Creek, I just pulled a little piece off and it seems pretty soft.

Bernheim's Original wheat whiskey has a top like that and I think it was a little harder to crack.

[caviar_and_chitlins]

Thank you! I quit MM for this very reason- it's a mess, it's way to difficult (and yes, I know about the little tab (that's impossible to grip, and then breaks off), and then it's only "pretty good" bourbon.

Too much trouble to get to the hooch. And I like Woodford better anyway.

[zin1953]

Never had a tab that was hard to grip; never had a tab break off . . .

[gfweb1]

Woodford or Pappy for me

[kathleen440]

Yeah, hate the stuff. Earlier this week I spent 10 minutes carefully chipping open a bottle of Ransom Old Tom with a chef's knife and I still got a little shard of plastic in the gin. Damn.

[nickls]

Good reason to try a different bourbon next time. A lot of good stuff out there, and with marketing budgets much smaller than Maker's, you tend to pay less for the same quality.

[Rick]

There's a built in pull tab underneath all that. Took us a bit of searching the first time we bought a bottle but been no problem with every bottle since.

[davis_sq_pro]

Pro tip: Smash the top of the bottle open with a hammer, then pour the liquid through a tea strainer to get rid of the glass shards. 12 minutes down to 45 seconds!

(Depending on your definition of the word "pro," naturally.)

[BeefeaterRocks]

Switch to Knob Creek, it has a pull tab for it's wax? cap.

[ncyankee101]

Plus its a better Bourbon. IMO of course.

[ScubaSteve]

agreed.

[EvergreenDan]

I've never really struggled with Maker's Mark, but Michel Couvier single malt is sealed with an extremely hard brittle phenolic-like substance. Not only is it really hard to get off, but it stinks. You need to be really careful to not get crumbs into the bottle. Its the most difficult bottle that I've ever opened, but somehow I'm willing to suffer through it for the rewards.

--
www.kindredcocktails.com | Craft + Collect + Concoct + Categorize + Community

[zin1953]

Agreed. That $#!+ is MESSY . . . and stinky!

[zin1953]

Dunno, but I've never had a problem opening a bottle . . .

[penthouse pup]

Had the same "experience" with a 2010 Lapierre Beaujolais--totally phony effect and very annoying.
(I do remember real seal waxed on old Calvados, even a double bottle size of Chianti a long time back...and they too were a pain but at least, the breakage came easily...)