Bourbon Whiskey for Fall

Cooler evenings tend to make bourbon feel particularly at home. Three bottles stood out in 2024 for their very different profiles: Fox & Oden Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Joseph Magnus Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Maker’s Mark.

These details are specific to the 2024 bottles; whiskey releases, blends and specifications can change over time.

Fox & Oden Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Fox & Oden was described with butterscotch, fig and nutmeg on the nose, followed by lighter notes of honey, caramel and chocolate. The palate moved toward salted caramel, charred oak, leather and baking spice, with a touch of tobacco in the profile.

The Fox & Oden bottle was a blend of bourbons aged from 8 to 15 years, using 21% and 36% rye mash bills. The stocks were sourced from MGP in Indiana and blended and bottled by Coppercraft Distillery in Michigan.

Its medium-length finish leaned toward smoke, caramel and baking spice. In other words, it has the sort of flavor profile that makes considerably more sense beside a fireplace than beside a kiddie pool.

Joseph Magnus Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Joseph Magnus Straight Bourbon Whiskey stood apart because of its finishing in sherry and cognac casks. The 2024 bottle was described with wine and grape notes along with raspberry and blackberry cobbler, white chocolate, macadamia nuts, brown sugar and sweet oak.

On the palate, the sherry-cask influence brought pepper and cinnamon, while fruit and oak remained prominent. Tobacco-leaf tannins and a progressively drier finish gave it a noticeably different character from a more straightforward bourbon profile.

Maker’s Mark

Maker’s Mark takes a different route by using soft red winter wheat rather than rye as its flavoring grain. That helps give the familiar bourbon its softer, sweeter profile, with oak, vanilla and fruit among the notes associated with it.

The brand is also instantly recognizable for its red wax seal, which has probably done more for bottle recognition than most of us have accomplished with an entire wardrobe.

How the three bourbons compare

Among these three bottles, the useful comparison is less about declaring one universally better and more about the style you enjoy. Fox & Oden leans into caramel, oak and spice; Joseph Magnus brings the added influence of sherry and cognac casks; and Maker’s Mark offers the softer profile of a wheated bourbon.

For another bottle-by-bottle tasting, see our David Bruce Chardonnay review.

Three bottles, three approaches, and thankfully no requirement to pretend you can detect seventeen separate varieties of oak before enjoying a glass.