When Maker’s Mark was founded in 1953, the whiskey was somewhat novel for using soft red winter wheat instead of rye in its mashbill, given that rye was (and remains!) the more common secondary grain in bourbon. As Maker’s has evolved over the years, its focus has never strayed from that original mashbill of 70% corn, 16% soft red winter wheat, and 14% malted barley, even as the distillery’s experimentation has soared via releases such as Maker’s 46, the Wood Finishing Series (now in its fifth chapter) and Cellar Aged. Now Maker’s is shaking things up with Star Hill Farm, a brand-new wheat whiskey that puts the spotlight on the eponymous farm in Loretto, Kentucky, as well as the soft red winter wheat that the distillery has long bet on.
In making Star Hill Farm Whiskey, the distilling team (today headed by master distiller Dr. Blake Layfield and lead blender Beth Buckner) played with a number of new mashbills before ultimately landing on two: the first, which makes up about 75% of the final whiskey, consists of 70% soft red winter wheat and 30% malted barley, while the other is made from 100% malted soft red winter wheat. A total of five different barrels were used for maturation, and while Layfield is coy about the exact barrel breakdown, he alludes to various types of oak being in the mix. Once dumped, the component whiskeys were vatted together for 30 days before being bottled at cask strength, 57.35% ABV, with a price tag of $100.
The idea for Star Hill Farm Whiskey arose in 2016, when Rob Samuels—the third-generation Samuels in the business and current Maker’s managing director—expressed a desire to highlight the flavoring grains in Maker’s Mark, as well as push deeper into an exploration of terroir at the distillery’s 1,100-acre Star Hill Farm. (While it wasn’t immediately clear that such a project would bloom into an entirely new brand, once Layfield, Buckner, and co. began sampling the aging barrels of wheat whiskey, there was no question that this was something worth bottling—and something that fell well beyond the breadth of Maker’s Mark bourbon.)
The inaugural Star Hill Farm release features grains from partner growers, all of whom are within a 60-mile radius of the distillery. The eventual plan, however, is to have 100% of the grains come from Star Hill Farm, which currently has 300 acres dedicated to the cultivation of wheat and barley. Even ahead of reaching that goal, Star Hill Farm Whiskey is the first in the world to feature an Estate Whiskey Alliance (EWA) designation on its label. Maker’s Mark is a founding member of the EWA, which launched in 2024 with a mission to elevate estate-grown whiskey into a category all its own. To become an EWA member, distillers must mill, mash, ferment, and distill on-site, and at least two-thirds of their grains must come from land that’s owned or otherwise controlled by the distillery.
Looking ahead, Star Hill Farm Whiskey will remain a direct contrast to Maker’s Mark. While you can count on the flavors of Maker’s to stay within a certain bandwidth, Star Hill Farm will be in a constant state of flux. “This will be an annual release—you can think of it as a vintage,” Layfield explains. “It’ll change each year, because this is a learning experience for us. What does wheat do to flavor, and how do we showcase that? All of these things will come to life as the brand continues over the next few years.” He estimates that the current Star Hill Farm release is about the same size as Cellar Aged. That said, Layfield also says that the intent is for Star Hill Farm Whiskey to grow, at least, as much as the natural resources that go into it will allow.
