Maker’s Mark has spent decades defining itself through American oak. Expedition 01 deliberately widens that map, using oak from the United States, France and Japan for the first release in the new World Wood Collection.

Rather than placing one bourbon through three barrels in sequence, Maker’s Mark divides matured whiskey into separate finishing batches. Fifty-five percent is finished with American white oak, 40 percent with French oak and 5 percent with Japanese Mizunara before the components are blended. The method gives the blender control over how much each wood type contributes instead of letting the most assertive stave dominate.

Mizunara is the headline because this is the first Maker’s Mark bourbon to use the famously difficult Japanese oak. In the context of recent cask-driven American whiskey, the more interesting detail is restraint: Mizunara represents only five percent of the final blend. Maker’s Mark attributes vanilla and rounded sweetness to American oak, baking spice and caramel to French oak, and floral notes with subtle umami to Mizunara.

Expedition 01 is bottled at 47.5 percent ABV in a one-liter format. Maker’s Mark launched it through selected Avolta airport shops, including New York JFK, for $84.99 as a global travel-retail exclusive. That limited channel narrows accessibility, but the three-continent finishing program makes the bottle more than another packaging exercise.