
Maker's Mark director of innovation Jane Bowie joined Whisky Advocate on Instagram Live on Aug. 21 to unveil the distillery's 2020 Limited Edition bourbon and more.
For Jane Bowie, the opportunity to innovate at her job isn't just a perk; it's part of her title. “Indifference is not great. I would rather us make whiskeys that maybe you love, maybe you hate them, but the whiskeys have a point of view and people feel passionately about it, one way or another,” said Bowie, director of innovation at Maker's Mark, during Whisky Advocate's Instagram Live series #TasteWithSpace on Aug. 21. “I think it's better to invoke a strong opinion than ‘It's fine.'”Bowie joined #TasteWithSpace to discuss Maker's Mark 2020 Limited Edition bourbon ahead of its September release. “This one was an interesting one,” Bowie said of the annual release. “We had the taste vision set long before we ever started working on the whiskey.” This “taste vision” is what the team at Maker's Mark—which includes Bowie, master distiller Denny Potter, and others—always starts with when making a new whiskey, which gives them a flavor profile to target. Once the vision is set, it's a trial-and-error process of finishing and blending until they get there.