Maker’s Mark announced on April 29, 2026 the launch of Yam Jam by Kelsey Plum, a limited-edition Private Selection bourbon created in collaboration with two-time WNBA champion, Olympic gold medalist, and Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum. The bourbon is bottled at 55.65% ABV (111.3 proof) and will be available beginning May 7, 2026 at select retailers in Los Angeles. The first barrel has been donated to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation to support its charitable fundraising efforts. Rob Samuels, eighth-generation whisky maker and managing director of Maker’s Mark, is the brand spokesperson. Media contact is Ballantines PR. Maker’s Mark is produced at Star Hill Farm in Loretto, Kentucky, and is a brand of Beam Suntory.
The Private Selection Program: How “Yam Jam” Was Made
The Maker’s Mark Private Selection program is the brand’s custom barrel finishing experience, available to individuals and to retail and restaurant partners. Participants visit Star Hill Farm, the home of the Maker’s Mark Distillery, and customize the finishing process of a Maker’s Mark bourbon barrel by selecting a combination of wood stave inserts that are placed inside the barrel for an extended secondary maturation period. Different stave configurations deliver different flavor compounds: French oak contributes vanilla and soft spice notes, seared American oak adds deeper char and smoke, and various other stave profiles deliver caramel, fruity, or tannic complexity. The combination selected by the participant determines the distinctive flavor character of their finished expression.
Kelsey Plum’s stave selection for Yam Jam produced a specific flavor profile disclosed in the announcement: aromas of bright chili spice and citrus, balanced by toasted oak, white pepper, and cherry on the nose; sweet potato pie, toasted pecan, and soft baking spices on the palate; and a finish of baking chocolate, pie cherries, and orange rind. That flavor architecture reflects a stave configuration weighted toward sweet and warming wood notes with fruit-forward complexity rather than heavy smoke or aggressive tannin. The “sweet potato pie” descriptor is the most distinctive sensory note and the source of the “Yam Jam” name, which is also a basketball term for a powerful dunk, giving the product name a dual cultural reference to both the flavor profile and Plum’s athletic identity.
The Grain and Distillation Inputs Behind Maker’s Mark
Maker’s Mark’s base formula has been consistent since 1953, when co-founder Bill Samuels, Sr. replaced the traditional rye grain in the family’s prior bourbon recipe with soft red winter wheat. That decision is the foundational differentiating ingredient choice that defines Maker’s Mark’s character. Bourbon by U.S. legal definition must be made from a grain mash of at least 51% corn. Maker’s Mark uses corn as the majority grain, soft red winter wheat as the secondary grain (replacing the rye used by most bourbon producers), and malted barley as the enzyme source that converts grain starches to fermentable sugars.
The soft red winter wheat substitution is significant from a grain sourcing standpoint. Soft red winter wheat is a lower-protein wheat variety grown primarily in the eastern U.S., including Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Midwest. It delivers a milder, less spicy flavor than rye, contributing the characteristic sweetness and creaminess that Maker’s Mark describes as its signature flavor profile. The wheat supply chain for Maker’s Mark is a sustained, high-volume procurement program for a specific wheat variety at a standard that must be consistent enough to replicate the same base spirit across every production run at one of the most recognized bourbon brands in the world.
Maker’s Mark is also a B Corp and Regenified Certified brand, with its Star Hill Farm operation committed to regenerative farming practices. The 2025 launch of Star Hill Farm Whisky, the brand’s first-ever wheat whisky using a different mash bill, represents an expansion of the grain sourcing program beyond the core bourbon formula into a dedicated wheat whisky grain program, which requires a different wheat specification than the soft red winter wheat used in the bourbon base.
The Women’s Sports and CPG Brand Activation Context
The Maker’s Mark x Kelsey Plum collaboration is part of a broader 2026 brand strategy that includes a multi-year partnership with Unrivaled, the three-on-three women’s basketball challenger league, described as Maker’s Mark’s first sports league sponsorship. The partnership serves as the platform for the brand’s “Perfectly Unreasonable” global campaign, celebrating the pursuit of excellence above conventional limits.
The women’s sports CPG partnership landscape has accelerated significantly in 2025 and 2026. Brands across food, beverage, and alcohol categories are investing in women’s basketball in particular as a commercial channel with rapidly growing viewership, a younger consumer demographic, and a cultural authenticity premium that male sports sponsorships cannot provide in the same way. Maker’s Mark’s Unrivaled partnership and the Kelsey Plum collaboration are positioned at the intersection of premium bourbon credentials and the momentum of women’s sports as a consumer brand vehicle, aimed at the same Millennial and Gen Z female consumer demographic that has driven the premiumization of the spirits category.
The Los Angeles retail launch timing, beginning May 7, aligns with the opening of the 2026 WNBA season and Plum’s return to the court with the Los Angeles Sparks, giving the product a built-in earned media window tied to both the bourbon release and the season opener.
The Grain, Wheat, and Artisan Spirits Sourcing Context
For Source86’s audience, the Maker’s Mark story sits at the intersection of grain sourcing and the premium spirits supply chain, a category that is adjacent to but not identical to the food ingredient sourcing programs that anchor most of the blog’s coverage. The most direct sourcing connections are the soft red winter wheat inputs for the Maker’s Mark bourbon base, the wood stave insert manufacturing program that enables the Private Selection custom finishing process, the malted barley inputs for the enzyme system in the mash, and the corn grain inputs at the legal minimum percentage for bourbon classification.
The Private Selection program’s wood stave inputs are a specialized wood processing product: American white oak and French oak stave pieces cut to specific dimensions, toasted or seared to specific char levels, and inserted inside finished bourbon barrels for secondary maturation. That stave manufacturing program requires a qualified cooperage or wood products supplier relationship at the quality and consistency specification required for a custom finishing program that produces commercially distinct bourbon expressions.
Why It Matters for Grain, Cooperage, and Spirits Ingredient Suppliers
Maker’s Mark’s sustained production of its core bourbon expression at the soft red winter wheat specification required by the Samuels family recipe since 1953, combined with the Star Hill Farm Whisky program’s wheat whisky grain requirements and the Private Selection program’s custom stave finishing inputs, creates three distinct ongoing procurement programs for soft red winter wheat at bourbon production scale, specialty wheat at wheat whisky production scale, and custom oak stave inserts at a cooperage wood product specification for secondary barrel maturation. For soft red winter wheat producers and grain merchandisers serving Kentucky bourbon distillers, Maker’s Mark’s consistent wheat-forward mash bill is one of the most durable single-brand grain specification programs in the American bourbon industry.
The Maker’s Mark Regenerative Alliance and Star Hill Farm’s Regenified Certification create a sourcing requirement for grain inputs that meet regenerative agriculture standards, adding a sustainability certification layer to the grain procurement program above the standard food-grade corn, wheat, and malted barley inputs required for bourbon production. For regeneratively certified grain producers and sustainable agriculture suppliers serving premium spirits manufacturers, Maker’s Mark’s public regenerative commitment signals a growing demand for certified regenerative grain inputs in the premium bourbon segment alongside the existing organic and conventional grain sourcing programs.
The Private Selection program’s custom oak stave insert requirement creates a sustained specialty wood products procurement program for American white oak and French oak staves at the toast and char specification required for a secondary barrel maturation finishing program that produces commercially distinct bourbon expressions at Maker’s Mark’s Star Hill Farm facility. For cooperage and wood products suppliers serving the American whiskey finishing segment, the growth of custom barrel finishing programs at major bourbon brands is creating a new demand channel for specialty wood stave products outside the traditional new barrel program.
FAQs
What is Yam Jam by Kelsey Plum? A limited-edition Maker’s Mark Private Selection bourbon created in collaboration with WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist Kelsey Plum. Bottled at 55.65% ABV (111.3 proof). Available beginning May 7, 2026 at select retailers in Los Angeles.
What does it taste like? Aromas of chili spice, citrus, toasted oak, white pepper, and cherry. Palate of sweet potato pie, toasted pecan, and baking spices. Finish of baking chocolate, pie cherries, and orange rind.
What is the charitable component? The first barrel has been donated to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation to support equipment and resources for Los Angeles firefighters.
What is the Maker’s Mark Private Selection program? A custom barrel finishing experience where participants select wood stave inserts placed inside a Maker’s Mark bourbon barrel for secondary maturation, producing a distinctive flavor expression. Available to individuals and to retail and restaurant partners.
What makes Maker’s Mark different from other bourbons? Soft red winter wheat replaces rye as the secondary grain in the mash bill, delivering a sweeter, creamier flavor profile. The formula has been consistent since 1953. Every bottle is hand-dipped in red wax and every barrel rotated by hand.
What is the broader partnership context? Maker’s Mark is a multi-year partner of Unrivaled, the three-on-three women’s basketball league. The Kelsey Plum collaboration and the Unrivaled partnership together anchor the brand’s “Perfectly Unreasonable” global campaign.
About Source86
Maker’s Mark’s Yam Jam Private Selection launch and its broader Star Hill Farm grain program reflect the premium spirits ingredient supply chain’s active demand for soft red winter wheat at the bourbon mash bill specification required for Maker’s Mark’s wheat-forward flavor profile at Kentucky distillery production scale, specialty wheat at the wheat whisky grain specification for the Star Hill Farm Whisky program’s distinct mash bill, food-grade malted barley for the enzyme conversion system in the bourbon mash, corn grain inputs at the legal minimum bourbon percentage specification, custom American white oak and French oak stave inserts at the toast and char specification for the Private Selection secondary barrel maturation program, and regeneratively certified grain inputs meeting the Regenified Certification standard for Maker’s Mark’s Star Hill Farm sustainable agriculture commitment. At Source86, we connect premium spirits producers, artisan distillers, and beverage ingredient buyers with trusted bulk and wholesale sourcing partners for soft red winter wheat and specialty grain inputs, malted barley for distillery enzyme systems, and custom wood stave products for barrel finishing programs at premium whiskey production scale.
Whether your production team sources soft red winter wheat for a wheat-forward bourbon mash bill, malted barley for a distillery grain conversion program, or specialty oak staves for a custom barrel finishing application, Source86 is your bridge to the right manufacturing and supply chain partners. Contact Source86 today to start your sourcing search.
