I’ll be honest, I was never a whisky person. Wine, yes. A martini, obviously. But bourbon for me, has always been shaken in a cocktail with fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white, or something I nodded along with whilst other people discussed it. 

Then before Mexico, I detoured through Kentucky. A couple of days at Star Hill Farm in Loretto, the 1,100 acre property where every drop of Maker’s Mark has ever been made. Which is impressive and almost unheard of for a distillery this size.

To an Australian Kentucky is fried chicken. I left without trying any fried chicken, but with an understanding that the region is known for really good bourbon. 

The reason I was there is my full time role with Matt Moran. Last year Rob Samuels, grandson of the founders, came out to Matt’s farm in the Central West of New South Wales, and this year he returned the favour. We got the full tour of the distillery, with Rob himself, Blake the master distiller and head of innovation, and the team. 

As Matt said “it’s like Disneyland for whisky”. He was pretty spot on there. Rob is a big art collector, particularly when it comes to glass sculptures and installations. There’s a impressive permanent one celebrating the brand, the colours – a nod to the iconic red wax, and blue for the water that makes the whisky.

Matt and Maker’s Mark share the same regenerative agriculture values, which makes it a really special partnership to work across. Care for the land and you’ll taste the difference, whether it’s bourbon or produce. 

Aside from that signature wax everyone knows them for, the land is really the whole story, just not one they’re known for. 

Maker’s Mark is the first distillery in the world to receive a Regenified Tier 3 certification for regenerative agriculture. The logic is simple: healthier soil grows better grain, and better grain makes better whisky. The flavour in the bottle starts in the soil.

The wheat still comes from the same farmer as it did in the 1950s. The water comes from a lake on the property, filtered through limestone bedrock. And because they own the watershed, they know the source of every drop that’s ever gone into a bottle. 

The family story is everywhere on the property. Bill Sr. created the recipe in 1953, baking grain into loaves of bread in the family kitchen until he found the perfect one. Bill Jr. added French oak staves that gave us Maker’s 46. And now Rob is doing some pretty incredible things through regenerative farming practices.

And of course that signature wax. Margie Samuels designed the bottle, the paper label and that red dip. She also became the first woman ever inducted into the Bourbon Hall of Fame. Every bottle of Maker’s Mark ever made (all 30 million a year of them) is hand dipped and I was lucky enough to hand dip two myself. 

I came for a work trip, and left with a new appreciation for whisky, and there are also two bottles with slightly wonky wax seals out there that are mine.