As part of the partnership, Unrivaled ticketholders will have the chance to engage with the whiskey brand experiences in select hospitality spaces and enjoy specialty cocktails inspired by the league. At Maimi’s Sephora Arena, the whiseky brand will take over their new VIP Loge Box. At select games, Maker’s Mark will also be part of Unrivaled’s pre-game Fan Fest experience outside the arena.

Maker’s Mark will also appear in-arena through displays with broadcast-visible signage. Thirty-second commercial spots will run on media partners including TNT and truTV throughout the regular season and playoffs, featuring the new Perfectly Unreasonable global campaign, which celebrates the idea that going to unreasonable lengths—in life and in bourbon—is what separates good from remarkable.

“What Maker’s Mark has done throughout its renowned history is exactly what Unrivaled aims to do, which is carving our own path to create something better, and leaning into unreasonable ideas instead of shying away from them,” said Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled Co-Founder. “That’s what makes Maker’s Mark a perfect fit as our first Official Spirits Partner. We’re grateful for their support in our continued pursuit of making the unreasonable a reality for women’s basketball.”

This is Maker’s Mark’s first-ever sports league sponsorship. “Maker’s Mark founders – my grandparents – broke with tradition to reimagine what bourbon could be—a perfectly unreasonable spirit that endures today,” said Rob Samuels, eighth generation whisky maker and Managing Director at Maker’s Mark. “Beginning with co-founders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled shares that same spirit, and we’re delighted to shine a light on their community of players who prioritize passion and purpose on and off court.”

This announcement comes ahead of Unrivaled’s 2026 sophomore season, tipping off Jan. 5 in Miami. Building on a breakthrough inaugural year, the league returns featuring two new clubs, a redesigned arena with expanded fan sections, and their first-ever tour stop in Philadelphia.

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“From the beginning, our founders – my grandparents – went to remarkable lengths to create an uncompromisingly delicious bourbon,” said Rob Samuels, eighth generation whisky maker and Managing Director, Maker’s Mark. “We are delighted to introduce this latest Wood Finishing Series expression that celebrates the team who still rotate each and every barrel of Maker’s Mark by hand and who continue to embrace our founders’ perfectly unreasonable pursuit of excellence.”

Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series is a collection of unique expressions that use wood stave-finishing technique to enhance characteristics already present in the brand’s bourbon.

“The Keepers Release was born from our close collaboration with the Maker’s Mark warehouse team, the guardians of our barrels,” said Dr. Blake Layfield, master distiller, Maker’s Mark. Their sensory experience of Maker’s Mark is unlike anyone else’s — the aromatic oak at different times of the day, evolving tasting notes of our whisky as it ages over multiple seasons — which provided inspiration and helped us shape the flavors of this release.”

At 109.2 proof, the Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series Keepers Release 2025 is available for $74.99.

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In this key leadership role, Dr. Layfield will oversee the consistency and taste vision of the brand, as well as new product innovation. In addition, he will advance the environmental and agricultural initiatives on Star Hill Farm, home to the Maker’s Mark distillery .

“Visionary leadership has been a critical and consistent factor in the success of Maker’s Mark, from the moment Bill Sr. and Margie Samuels decided to create something completely different in the bourbon category 70 years ago,” said Rob Samuels, eighth generation whisky maker and managing director, Maker’s Mark. “Blake embodies the brand’s commitment to culture, quality and a higher purpose, and I am thrilled he and the Maker’s Mark leadership team are guardians of the brand’s legacy and vanguards driving the brand forward.”

Since joining Suntory Global Spirits from Diageo in 2019, Dr. Layfield has held a series of R&D and quality leadership roles in Kentucky, serving most recently as senior director of innovation, blending and quality for Maker’s Mark. He holds a doctorate in Food Science from North Carolina State University and a General Certificate in Distilling from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling. He is also Co-Chair on the Research Committee of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association and serves on the board of the James B. Beam Institute at the University of Kentucky.

Layfield will continue to be supported by Buckner in her role as Lead Blender, a critical position for the brand. She began her tenure at Maker’s Mark in 2013 and her palate, creativity, and leadership qualities led to her significant role in the development of the acclaimed Wood Finishing Series.

Continuing to oversee all operations is Kim Harmon, General Manager at the distillery. She joined Maker’s Mark in 2019 as director of safety and sustainability, and among other achievements, was instrumental in Maker’s Mark’s B Corp certification in 2022 – a milestone achievement within the industry.

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Like the inaugural release, Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2024 is aged to taste, not time. This expression blends 15% Maker’s Mark 12-year-old and 85% Maker’s Mark 13-year-old at 119.3 Proof.

“We surprised the world with the debut of Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged last year, a bold step in our family’s legacy because, for more than 65 years, aging our whisky for a decade-plus wasn’t something we did,” said Rob Samuels, 8th generation whisky maker and Managing Director, Maker’s Mark. “Staying true to our founders’ flavor vision and our relentless pursuit of excellence, we’re thrilled to introduce our most mature bourbon yet.”

“Delivering an elevated expression that’s distinctly Maker’s Mark, Cellar Aged finishes maturation in our LEED-certified cellar, built into the limestone shelf that surrounds us, creating a richer, deeper and more complex bourbon, free from the harsher tannic effects commonly found in older American whiskies,” added Dr. Blake Layfield, Head of Innovation and Blending, Maker’s Mark.

Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2024 is available for $174.99.

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Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series is a collection of one-of-a-kind expressions that use an innovative wood stave-finishing technique to enhance distinctive characteristics already present in the brand’s bourbon. Whereas the first series emphasized the production process that impacts the flavor of Maker’s Mark, the second series will focus on the teams behind Maker’s Mark. The first release within this series focuses the distillery team, who craft its bourbon in Loretto, Kentucky.

“Always staying true to my grandparents, our founders’ vision to deliver a full-flavored, soft red winter wheat bourbon with a smooth finish, Maker’s Mark continues to shape the brand’s future through purposeful, flavor-driven innovation,” said Rob Samuels, eighth generation whisky maker and Managing Director for Maker’s Mark. “This Wood Finishing Series release celebrates the entire distillery team, who share our vision and who have contributed their perspective to craft the final expression.”

“It was a very unique, special experience to have the distillery team play a significant role in crafting the taste vision of The Heart Release,” added Beth Buckner, Senior Manager of Innovation and Blending, Maker’s Mark. “Distillery team members all have different, yet very important jobs in creating our whisky; each person described aromas and flavors they experience throughout their day, which helped us shape the flavors of this release.”

Maker’s Mark The Heart Release is available for $74.99

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Since its founding in 1953, Maker’s Mark has aged its whiskey to taste and not time. Cellar Aged stays true to this philosophy, free from the harsher tannic effects commonly found in extra-aged American whiskies, as a result of their maturation process that starts in traditional Kentucky warehouses and finishes in the distillery’s one-of-a-kind limestone whisky cellar.

“For more than 65 years, aging our whisky for a decade-plus wasn’t something we did,” said Rob Samuels, 8th generation whisky maker and grandson of the founders at Maker’s Mark. “It’s not that we didn’t believe in it; we simply hadn’t found a way to do it that didn’t compromise on our taste vision – until now. Cellar Aged embodies an older whisky that’s distinctly Maker’s Mark. One rooted in challenging convention, delivering new flavor experiences from the environment that surrounds us, and building on a taste vision that’s been generations in the making.”

To become Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged, barrels of the distillery’s distillate first spend approximately six years aging in traditional bourbon warehouses, until they reach full maturity. Barrels are then moved into the distillery’s proprietary whisky cellar for an additional five to six years of aging before being blended to taste and bottled. Built into the natural limestone shelf of the Kentucky hills, the cellar’s consistently cool environment slows down the tannic impact that occurs during maturation, while allowing the bourbon to develop a deeper, darker flavor with hidden depths, but no bitterness.

Maker’s Mark Founders Bill and Margie Samuels challenged category norms when they burned their 170-year-old family recipe, choosing to use red winter wheat instead of rye in their mashbill for a softer, smoother bourbon. This spirit of asking “what if?” was present in the introduction of Maker’s Mark 46, which is crafted using a proprietary wood-stave finishing technique, and in Maker’s Mark Private Selection, which became the industry’s first custom barrel program upon its launch in 2016.

Cellar Aged will be an annual, limited release available in specific markets around the world. The maturation approach of Cellar Aged will be consistent every year, but the specific blend of aged bourbon will vary based on which barrels are ready, by taste. The inaugural release of Cellar Aged is a marriage of 12-year-old and 11-year-old whisky – 87% and 13%, respectively – bottled at cask strength (115.7 proof).

Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon is available for $150.

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The City Series is said to capture the character of the world’s most enchanting locations in a bottle. Launching with New York City and Sydney, new limited-edition city releases will be added over several years.

To kick off this series, Maker’s tastemakers who became our city spirit guides to help evoke the essence and nuances of the place they live and love through bourbon.

For the New York Edition, flavor experts Erina Yoshida and Justin Ottevanger (Angel’s Share) created a 107.8 proof whisky that features layers of spice, oak and rich dark chocolate. With the Sydney Edition, insiders Sam Egerton and Jordan Toft (Merivale), 110.8 proof spirit is ripe and fruit-forward.

The New York and Sydney Editions are the first two in a limited series of handcrafted Maker’s expressions which honor the taste profiles of cities around the world. It is the result of more than a decade of wood-science expertise, exploring the influence of oak and agriculture on bourbon’s wide-ranging taste profiles. The Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series celebrates the inherent uniqueness of different wood types, celebrating individuality through flavor, just as each city’s unique, signature whisky now does.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to bring a taste of our distillery in Loretto, Kentucky to the Global Travel Retail market through the new City Series,” said Rob Samuels, Chief Distillery Officer at Maker’s Mark and Grandson of the Founders. “Just as my grandparents sat down with a taste vision in mind when creating Maker’s Mark, partnering with Erina and Justin in New York and Sam and Jordan in Sydney to create bourbons that embodied their cities resulted in delicious new whiskies that are a true adventure of their own.”

Both the Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series New York and Sydney Editions are now available Global Travel Retail. The New York Edition is sold at John F. Kennedy Airport Terminal 1 for a SRP of $95 and the Sydney Edition is available at Sydney Terminal 1 for a SRP of $140 AUD.

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In keeping with tradition, the newest expressions showcase another choice within the Maker’s Mark bourbon-making process – barrel rotation. Bourbon owes a lot of its flavor to the barrel, and a lot of that flavor comes from the barrel’s reaction to different temperatures. Maker’s Mark has always hand-rotated barrels from the top to the bottom of their rickhouses ensuring equal exposure to temperatures over time and resulting in the consistent flavors Maker’s Mark is known for. As we like to say in Loretto, Ky., this step is “purposeful inefficiency” at its best and a process that hasn’t changed since the beginning.

The name “BRT” was given to these expressions because of the influence that the consistent practice of hand-barrel rotation (BRT) and temperature has on the Maker’s Mark whisky process. BRT-01 is inspired by the hotter top of the rickhouse and uses American oak staves to dial up the flavors developed over the first three years of aging. BRT-02 is inspired by the cooler bottom of the rickhouse and uses French oak staves to dial up the flavors developed over its final years of aging.

Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series BRT-01 and Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series BRT-02 are nationwide for $59.99. 

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Cape Cod’s Chatham Bars Inn developed a Private Select bourbon with Maker’s Mark — only the second resort in the state to do so — available to enjoy only at the property. To create the flavor profile, Chatham Bars Inn Master Mixologist Adam Couto and his team hand-selected wood finishing staves such as Baked American Pure, Seared French Cuvée, Maker’s 46 Roasted French Mocha and Toasted French Spice. The end result is a full barrel of private select Maker’s Mark that can be enjoyed neat, on the rocks, or paired with a selection of cocktails like this one. Additionally, all of its cocktail ingredients are sourced and created from The Inn’s local 8-acre farm.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Maker’s Mark Bourbon
• 1 1/2 oz fruit puree of choice (recommended blackberry)
• 2 dashes Orange bitters

Instructions:

Fill a double old-fashioned glass with ice. Shake all ingredients with ice and double strain over fresh ice. Run an orange ribbon over rim of glass and drop on top of cocktail.

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Shake Shack’s bourbon bacon jam marries Maker’s Mark with bacon that is smoked for six hours using real hardwood applewood, creating a sweet and savory sauce with woodsy and smoky flavors and a slight heat. With Shake Shack’s fine dining roots and commitment to using high-quality ingredients, Maker’s was a perfect partner for the new sauce and menu items.

The Bourbon Bacon Cheddar Burger ($8.49) features white-cheddar cheeseburger, made with fresh 100% Angus beef, topped with bourbon bacon jam made with Maker’s Mark Bourbon, crispy shallots, and ShackSauce on a toasted potato bun. While Bourbon Bacon Cheddar Chicken Sandwich ($8.09) includes a crispy, whole white meat chicken breast topped with white-cheddar cheese and bourbon bacon jam made with Maker’s Mark Bourbon over pickles on a toasted potato bun.

Both Bourbon Bacon Cheddar items are available at Shake Shack locations nationwide.

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