Maker’s Mark distiller waters down flagship bourbon...

[Ah Pook]

Anyone following this? Anyone care?

http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/02...p-your-whisky/

Does your favourite whisky taste a touch watered down these days? Well, if you’re drinking Maker’s Mark, that’s because it is.


The well-known Kentucky-based craft bourbon distiller is embroiled in something of a scandal this week, as company executives have said in a letter on the weekend addressed to “loyal customers” that the company, headed by Rob Samuels, grandson of the brand’s founder Bill Samuels Sr., will begin to water down their flagship product in an effort to meet rising demand in the U.S. and around the world.

There will be a 3% reduction in the alcohol by volume (ABV) in each bottle, dropping the product from 45% to 42% ABV. Samuels, also chief brand ambassador, assured people in an email that the company had done extensive testing on the taste profile of the lower alcohol bourbon, and found the less boozy product was still the equal of his father’s original recipe. The company says they’ve been far more worried about scarcity of their product lately than any perceived damage to their brand from lowering alcohol content slightly.


Still, Twitter was abuzz with negative reaction, and Esquire magazine, for one, had found a way around the whole mess, which was simply to buy Maker’s 46, the upmarket brand of distiller, sure not to be watered down, but which comes with a heftier price tag.


Slate’s Matthew Yglesias dug down a little deeper into the story, and writes that the worldwide spike in demand for the trademark American-style of whiskey may be the root cause of Maker’s troubles. But he still muses that it’s clear this is the dividing line between Maker’s appealing to serious bourbon drinkers, and knowing that they really are a mid- to downmarket spirit. After all, in a shortage, the other alternative would have been to raise the price on the product, if they actually believe their customers would notice a drop in quality. The brand is currently under the umbrella of spirits made by Beam Inc., makers of Jim Beam, of course, and also Alberta Premium. Beam Inc. is said to be refocusing its attention on emerging markets, and seems to be less concerned with the somewhat fickle and mature U.S. liquor market, which is becoming increasingly bifurcated between super high-end actual craft products and mass-market brands.

Here’s Rob Samuels letter in its entirety:

Dear Maker’s Mark® Ambassador,
Lately we’ve been hearing from many of you that you’ve been having difficulty finding Maker’s Mark in your local stores. Fact is, demand for our bourbon is exceeding our ability to make it, which means we’re running very low on supply. We never imagined that the entire bourbon category would explode as it has over the past few years, nor that demand for Maker’s Mark would grow even faster.
We wanted you to be the first to know that, after looking at all possible solutions, we’ve worked carefully to reduce the alcohol by volume (ABV) by just 3%. This will enable us to maintain the same taste profile and increase our limited supply so there is enough Maker’s Mark to go around, while we continue to expand the distillery and increase our production capacity.

We have both tasted it extensively, and it’s completely consistent with the taste profile our founder/dad/grandfather, Bill Samuels, Sr., created nearly 60 years ago. We’ve also done extensive testing with Maker’s Mark drinkers, and they couldn’t tell a difference.


Nothing about how we handcraft Maker’s Mark has changed, from the use of locally sourced soft red winter wheat as the flavor grain, to aging the whisky to taste in air-dried American white oak barrels, to rotating our barrels during maturation, to hand-dipping every bottle in our signature red wax.

In other words, we’ve made sure we didn’t screw up your whisky.

By the way, if you have any comments or questions, as always, we invite you to drop us a line at rob@makersmark.com or bill@makersmark.com. Thanks for your support. And if you’ve got a little time on your hands, come down and see us at the distillery.


Sincerely,

Rob Samuels
Chief Operating Officer
Ambassador-in-Chief
Bill Samuels, Jr.
Chairman Emeritus
Ambassador-at-Large

Jack Daniels has lowered the alcohol content of their Black Label at least twice. Didn't seem to hurt them long term.

[GilpinGuy]

I don't know what's worse. The image of lowering the ABV, or being a bit scarce.

[Katastrophic]

Either lower the quality or raise the prices. I enjoy a nice whiskey and think that it's worth keeping the quality higher. If I'm drinking to get buzzed then I can get something cheap, but don't mess with my sh!t.

[kidicarus13]

I stocked up on 90 proof MM like I stocked up on PMAGs.

[Bailey Guns]

Another reason to drink Buffalo Trace. Or Bulleit.

[Dave]

Well, I guess I'll hold off on my bottle of MM. Still working down a bottle of Jim Beam black. I don't drink whiskey to get drunk, it tends to make me get angry quickly if I drink a lot of it. Don't have that problem with beer, wine or other spirits.

[Ah Pook]

Granted, there is only a set amount in the barrels. Adjusting production can take 4-6 years and the fad may be over by then. 90% of the customers couldn't tell the difference anyway. Still , reducing the quality while charging the same "top shelf" price...

Personally, I never thought MM was that much better than other less expensive whiskies. The same goes JD, JB, JW, JC...

[Rooskibar03]

Disappointed but once I tried the Markers 46 I couldn't go back to the regular stuff anyway.

Lately I'm on a Crown Royal Maple kick. Went through a handle of that in the time I would have normally finished half a small bottle of the other.

[Ah Pook]

Looks like a back pedal.

http://www.makersmark.com/#!/live-fe...ke-we-listened

You spoke. We listened.
Dear Friends,

Since we announced our decision last week to reduce the alcohol content (ABV) of Maker’s Mark in response to supply constraints, we have heard many concerns and questions from our ambassadors and brand fans. We’re humbled by your overwhelming response and passion for Maker’s Mark. While we thought we were doing what’s right, this is your brand – and you told us in large numbers to change our decision.

You spoke. We listened. And we’re sincerely sorry we let you down.

So effective immediately, we are reversing our decision to lower the ABV of Maker’s Mark, and resuming production at 45% alcohol by volume (90 proof). Just like we’ve made it since the very beginning.

The unanticipated dramatic growth rate of Maker’s Mark is a good problem to have, and we appreciate some of you telling us you’d even put up with occasional shortages. We promise we'll deal with them as best we can, as we work to expand capacity at the distillery.

Your trust, loyalty and passion are what’s most important. We realize we can’t lose sight of that. Thanks for your honesty and for reminding us what makes Maker’s Mark, and its fans, so special.

We’ll set about getting back to bottling the handcrafted bourbon that our father/grandfather, Bill Samuels, Sr. created. Same recipe. Same production process. Same product.

As always, we will continue to let you know first about developments at the distillery. In the meantime please keep telling us what’s on your mind and come down and visit us at the distillery. It means a lot to us.

Sincerely,

Rob Samuels	Bill Samuels, Jr
Chief Operating Officer	Chairman Emeritus
rob@makersmark.com	bill@makersmark.com

[rondog]

Don't drink, so it doesn't affect me. But they're lying about the reason why, they're doing it to increase profits, like everything else. Everybody's doing shit like this to get a few more bucks in the executives pockets. Ever notice toilet paper rolls are a little narrower? Check the weight or volume on nearly anything you've bought for years. Chances are the price hasn't changed, but there's a little less of the product.

Just the rich trying to get richer and being sneaky about it.