The Samuels family had been distillers for six generations, but Bill Samuels Sr managed to set fire to the family recipe when he set out to make his own whiskey. Starting again, he created Maker's Mark.

Starting with the grains behind the whiskey, the story goes that Bill and his wife Margie baked loaves of bread to test out different mashbills, and ended up choosing to substitute rye – the common flavouring grain of the day – with winter wheat, to create a softer and easier drinking bourbon.

Along with helping to create the flavour, Margie also designed the bottle and label, and is claimed to have dipped the first bottle in red wax, using the frier in her kitchen to melt it.

Now, 60 years later, Maker's is known around the world.