This is a retrospective development story, not a controlled protocol. Front-versus-back tongue explanations and the searing-locks-in-acid analogy are not established by these interviews. Do not transfer ten staves or three months directly to home finishing or bottle blending.
Original PDF pagination, not ebook reader counters. Attributed paraphrase.
Bill Jr. and Kevin Smith defined a rich, full-bodied profile with a long finish and no bitter aftertaste before experimentation. The account reports 123 experiments, consultation with a barrel supplier, and ten seared air-dried French-oak staves in six-year-old Maker's Mark, sampled daily for about three months.
16
15
Maker's 46 sensory target and iterative development
All supplied pages read; source fidelity only, not independent factual authentication.
No access › The Maker’s Mark Story — full-source analysis, PDF 1–59
Evidence
Bill Jr. and Kevin Smith defined a rich, full-bodied profile with a long finish and no bitter aftertaste before experimentation. The account reports 123 experiments, consultation with a barrel supplier, and ten seared air-dried French-oak staves in six-year-old Maker's Mark, sampled daily for about three months.
Location and context
Original PDF 15–16; Maker's 46 sensory target and iterative development. Attributed paraphrase, not a direct quotation.
Annotation
This is a retrospective development story, not a controlled protocol. Front-versus-back tongue explanations and the searing-locks-in-acid analogy are not established by these interviews. Do not transfer ten staves or three months directly to home finishing or bottle blending.
Verification
Source fidelity and page range checked. Independent historical verification remains separate.
Whitaker 2017 — Maker's 46 sensory target and iterative development — PDF 15–16