The Best Maker's Mark Cocktails Ranked From Worst To Best

Fans of Kentucky bourbon will have no problems spotting Maker's Mark's signature red wax drip. This bottle, which comes in a square-ish-shaped bottle is known as one of the premier bourbons in the United States. The brand dates back to 1953 when it was purchased by Bill Williams. Williams tinkered with the recipe, and, according to the Maker's Mark website, made a few clever swaps like using red winter wheat instead of the commonly used rye.

The brand frequently makes top 10 lists, and in 2020 was the number two best-selling bourbon in the United States, according to Forbes. There's something to love about the bourbon, which The Whiskey Shelf says is loaded with caramel, cocoa powder, clove, cinnamon, oak, and vanilla. But when blended into a cocktail, Maker's Mark seems to come alive in new ways. There are plenty of bourbon cocktails you can try with Makers' Mark, but we've rounded up the most popular and ranked them from worst to best so you don't have to.

Nothing says brunch like a Bloody Mary. This classic cocktail is a rich combination of tomato juice, vodka, and an array of spices and extras like Worchestershire sauce and pickle juice. But we love Bloody Mary's because the rich, savory notes make it the perfect pairing to food like chicken wings, soft-shelled crab, and sausages, which may very well be served on top of the drink!

The Bloody Mary was invented in Paris in 1921 by a bartender named Fernand Petiot, who was working at a well-known bar called Harry's New York Bar. In the 1920s Paris was a magnet to people from all over the world, which also attracted new ingredients. Americans brought canned tomato juice to Paris, a key ingredient to the Bloody Mary. And the Russians brought vodka. The original Bloody Mary recipe, according to silvercircledistillery.com, calls for "poison" aka alcohol. We could speculate that vodka is the spirit of choice in this classic recipe because it's tasteless and odorless.

And that's precisely why Maker's Mark doesn't work. Although it's a bourbon that has a lighter profile than some other bourbons — lighter body, aromas that aren't too potent — something about bourbon in a Bloody Mary just doesn't sit right with us. So we're deeming this an incompatible match. You're more than welcome to try Maker's Mark bourbon in a Bourbon Bloody Mary, but it's something we'll pass on.

Mint juleps are easy to spot by the signature silver cup they're served in. It's requisite bar equipment and even though it doesn't technically impact the cocktail's flavor, we like to agree that something about mint juleps just doesn't taste the same in any other container. The now-classic cocktail is an interesting mash-up of flavors, but it's actually quite a simple combination of just bourbon, simple syrup, and fresh mint. It's sweet with a refreshing twist because of the mint leaves.

This cocktail was a hit with President Roosevelt, and it was revered by F. Scott Fitzgerald, as Town & Country Magazine points out. And we love the drink too ... we just don't love it with Maker's Mark. A Mint Julep shouldn't necessarily be overly sweet, but when you use the sweet-leaning Maker's Mark it takes this drink from cool to cloying. If it's the only bourbon you have, you might be able to up the ratio of your other ingredients. But really, just stick to using Maker's Mark for cocktails that have more acidity or savory notes.

New York City's now-shuttered Milk & Honey cocktail bar is responsible for some of your favorite cocktails, like the Gold Rush, explains Money Inc. The Kentucky Maid is yet another cocktail that was dreamed up at the bar, reports Bloomberg. There is a familiar sour element, alongside a refreshing component of cucumber and mint. And it's a real exercise in restraint and how sometimes the simple pleasures produce stellar rewards. Bourbon, is in fact, the alcohol for this cocktail and we love that it adds robustness to a drink that would otherwise be too light and simple.

The spiced honey notes of Maker's Mark actually complement the syrup and lime in the Kentucky Maid, but there are some big baking spices that we think cause a clash. It's not the worst bourbon you can choose. But if you're going for more of a complimentary booze in this cocktail, you'd be better off picking something with some warmer, subtler spice notes. For these reasons, the Kentucky Maid made it towards the middle of our list.

Bourbon is a type of whisky but because "bourbon ginger" doesn't have the same ring as "whisky ginger" we'll use that name. Making this highball is pretty simple, mix bourbon and ginger. You can follow a recipe, like the one on the Maker's Mark website, or just use ratios based on your own preferences.

Silent screen siren Greta Garbo was a fan of the Whisky Ginger, Letters and Liquors explains, so if you want to channel an old-school elegance, this may be your drink of choice. If you buy a high-quality ginger ale or ginger soda, you may find that the Maker's Mark disappears completely. You could add a few ginger extras, like ginger syrup or candied ginger, but really do you want to have to tinker with a drink that's already supposed to be complete on its own? The Maker's Mark brings some nice spiciness to it, but because ginger ale is so powerful, it doesn't hold up as it should.

What do you get when you mix lemon juice, honey syrup, ginger, and not one, but two types of Scotch? You get the penicillin, a larger-than-life cocktail that takes its name from the antibiotic's ability to cure many ailments, Chilled explains. It's slightly similar to a few other lemon juice, whisky, and syrup cocktails like the gold rush or the whisky sour, but the ginger makes it feel more like a riff on a hot toddy ... without the "hot."

If you do decide to use Maker's Mark as one of your whiskies, you won't be disappointed but you probably also won't be thrilled. It's a cocktail that benefits from the smoky notes of Scotch and that's something that just doesn't come through when using Maker's Mark. We do love the sweetness of the Maker's Mark but besides that, there's not much about the bourbon that makes it feel like a penicillin's match made in heaven.

Old fashioneds are sophisticated yet approachable. They are suitable for cozy fall nights, hangouts with friends, and virtually everything in between. Now Maker's Mark is known for being a slightly sweeter bourbon. And instead of it layering too much sugar on top of the citrus and sugar already in an Old Fashioned, Maker's Mark is a complementary bourbon.

Now it doesn't create the most complex old fashioned, but what it does do is create an old fashioned that's got universal appeal. It'll be one that old fashioned haters will probably gravitate towards. And because Maker's Mark uses barrel staves that are air-dried for nine months and then charred, as the distillery states on its website, the whisky has sweet vanilla notes, and no bitterness, making it complimentary in an old fashioned. It's believed that the old fashioned was enjoyed as far back as the 1860s, says Centurion Magazine, and it's become a beloved cocktail throughout its history. We love this classic cocktail and what the Maker's Mark brings out in it.

If you're a fan of the negroni and the Manhattan, chances are, you're also already a boulevardier fan. This drink, which channels equal parts of each, made its popular drinking culture comeback around 2014, according to The New York Times. It was in the late 1920s that socialite and writer Erskine Gwynne created the cocktail in Paris. And its staying power is quite clear when you consider it's still a popular drink nearly 100 years later.

The boulevardier is simple. So if you've got bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth, then you've got all it requires to throw one of these together! But when made with Maker's Mark something interesting happens. The drink is rather chill ... it's rich but subdued. So when you use Maker's Mark as the bourbon in this drink, it does lift the flavors a bit more. Maybe it's the ginger notes that The Whiskey Shelf noticed. Or perhaps it's the fact that Maker's Mark has a slightly thinner texture than some other bourbons, which means it integrates nicely with the other components of the drink. Either way, choosing a Maker's Mark boulevardier is one of the better decisions you can make in life.