Kentucky’s famous red wax-sealed bourbon is heading to luxury department store shelves with one of its rarest UK releases to date.
Maker’s Mark has unveiled its first-ever collaboration with Selfridges, resulting in a bespoke Private Selection bourbon created exclusively for the retailer.
Known as Selfridges Barrel No. 1 2026, the whiskey is limited to just 258 bottles, making it one of the more tightly allocated Maker’s Mark expressions to arrive in the UK in recent years.
The whiskey begins life as fully matured Maker’s Mark Cask Strength bourbon before undergoing the distillery’s Private Selection finishing process. This allows partners to tailor the final flavour profile through the use of ten specially selected oak finishing staves, chosen from five distinct stave styles developed by the Kentucky distillery.
The whiskey is limited to just 258 bottles, making it one of the more tightly allocated Maker’s Mark expressions…
Inside Maker’s Mark’s new Selfridges collaboration
For this inaugural collaboration, the Selfridges buying team travelled through the Private Selection process themselves, selecting a bespoke combination of staves designed to create a flavour profile unique to the retailer.
Bottled at cask strength, the whiskey arrives at a robust 55.4% ABV and is presented non-chill filtered to preserve its texture and concentration of flavour.
In the glass, Selfridges Barrel No. 1 2026 reportedly opens with warming spice and dark fruit notes before moving into familiar waves of vanilla sweetness and toasted oak. Rich oak character then builds across the palate, leading into a long and lingering finish.
Maker’s Mark recommends enjoying it neat or with a single cube of ice to allow the whiskey’s layers of spice, fruit and oak to gradually reveal themselves.
Commenting on the collaboration, Rob Samuels, eighth-generation whisky maker and managing director of Maker’s Mark, said: “The Private Selection programme allows us to share our obsessive approach to flavour discovery, inviting partners who refuse to compromise on quality to shape their own perfect expression of Maker’s Mark.
“Selfridges brought that exact, uncompromising vision to our stave-finishing process. Together, we ignored the easy path to create a bourbon that is intensely personal, meticulously crafted, and entirely unique within our series.”
The limited-edition bourbon is available now through Selfridges stores in London, Manchester and Birmingham, as well as online via Selfridges, priced at £91.99.
Maker’s Mark has launched a new airport‑exclusive Artist Series, pairing its handmade Kentucky bourbon with limited‑edition labels inspired by major global cities. The collection forms part of a wider programme of travel‑retail exclusives from the distillery. Each release is defined not by a unique liquid or cask profile, but by its artwork. The whisky inside…
Chocolate has long been one of whisky’s favourite tasting notes. The Lakes Distillery has now made it the inspiration for an entire single malt. Its limited-edition Chocolatier expression has arrived in the UK following international recognition at the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2026, where it became the only English whisky to receive a Gold…
Luxury retailer Fortnum & Mason has teamed up with Disney to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Winnie the Pooh. The collaboration spans exclusive honey, hampers, homeware and a themed Afternoon Tea, bringing a little of the Hundred Acre Wood to Piccadilly. At the heart of the collection is what Fortnum’s describes as the world’s first…
The Luxe Review 
Kentucky’s famous red wax-sealed bourbon is heading to luxury department store shelves with one of its rarest UK releases to date.
Maker’s Mark has unveiled its first-ever collaboration with Selfridges, resulting in a bespoke Private Selection bourbon created exclusively for the retailer.
Known as Selfridges Barrel No. 1 2026, the whiskey is limited to just 258 bottles, making it one of the more tightly allocated Maker’s Mark expressions to arrive in the UK in recent years.
The whiskey begins life as fully matured Maker’s Mark Cask Strength bourbon before undergoing the distillery’s Private Selection finishing process. This allows partners to tailor the final flavour profile through the use of ten specially selected oak finishing staves, chosen from five distinct stave styles developed by the Kentucky distillery.
Inside Maker’s Mark’s new Selfridges collaboration
For this inaugural collaboration, the Selfridges buying team travelled through the Private Selection process themselves, selecting a bespoke combination of staves designed to create a flavour profile unique to the retailer.
Bottled at cask strength, the whiskey arrives at a robust 55.4% ABV and is presented non-chill filtered to preserve its texture and concentration of flavour.
In the glass, Selfridges Barrel No. 1 2026 reportedly opens with warming spice and dark fruit notes before moving into familiar waves of vanilla sweetness and toasted oak. Rich oak character then builds across the palate, leading into a long and lingering finish.
Maker’s Mark recommends enjoying it neat or with a single cube of ice to allow the whiskey’s layers of spice, fruit and oak to gradually reveal themselves.
Commenting on the collaboration, Rob Samuels, eighth-generation whisky maker and managing director of Maker’s Mark, said: “The Private Selection programme allows us to share our obsessive approach to flavour discovery, inviting partners who refuse to compromise on quality to shape their own perfect expression of Maker’s Mark.
“Selfridges brought that exact, uncompromising vision to our stave-finishing process. Together, we ignored the easy path to create a bourbon that is intensely personal, meticulously crafted, and entirely unique within our series.”
The limited-edition bourbon is available now through Selfridges stores in London, Manchester and Birmingham, as well as online via Selfridges, priced at £91.99.
Maker’s Mark bourbon unveils airport‑exclusive Artist Series with city‑inspired bottlings
Maker’s Mark has launched a new airport‑exclusive Artist Series, pairing its handmade Kentucky bourbon with limited‑edition labels inspired by major global cities. The collection forms part of a wider programme of travel‑retail exclusives from the distillery. Each release is defined not by a unique liquid or cask profile, but by its artwork. The whisky inside…
The Lakes Distillery brings award-winning Chocolatier single malt whisky to the UK
Chocolate has long been one of whisky’s favourite tasting notes. The Lakes Distillery has now made it the inspiration for an entire single malt. Its limited-edition Chocolatier expression has arrived in the UK following international recognition at the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2026, where it became the only English whisky to receive a Gold…
Exclusive Fortnum & Mason Winnie the Pooh Hunny collection is too sweet to resist
Luxury retailer Fortnum & Mason has teamed up with Disney to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Winnie the Pooh. The collaboration spans exclusive honey, hampers, homeware and a themed Afternoon Tea, bringing a little of the Hundred Acre Wood to Piccadilly. At the heart of the collection is what Fortnum’s describes as the world’s first…
Share this: