Maker's Mark to Be Watered down.

[GrayStangGT]

I guess I will be drinking more Knob Creek now instead.

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/02/12/maker-mark-reducing-alcohol-volume-to-stretch-supplies-its-bourbon-amid-strong/?intcmp=features

The producer of Maker's Mark bourbon is cutting — likely permanently — the amount of alcohol in each bottle to stretch every drop of the famous Kentucky whiskey. The alcohol volume is being lowered from its historic level of 45 percent to 42 percent — or 90 proof to 84 proof.

The brand known for its square bottles sealed in red wax has struggled to keep up with demand that more than doubled the past seven years. Distribution has been squeezed and the popular premium brand has had to curtail shipments to some overseas markets.

"Over the last 100-plus days, there are many, many instances across lot of different cities where bars, restaurants, package stores have run low, run out," Rob Samuels, chief operating officer for Maker's Mark and grandson of the brand's founder, said Monday.

"Given the surge in demand outstripping supply, what we've decided to do very carefully is to slightly reduce the alcohol volume."

The recipe and production process will stay the same, except "a touch more water" will be added when the whiskey comes out of the barrel for bottling, Samuels said. The brand's bourbon is made at its distillery near the small town of Loretto, 45 miles south of Louisville.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/...#ixzz2KhWcSDqC

[Chili]

I guess I will be drinking more Knob Creek now instead.

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/...ntcmp=features

Dude, that is such a little amount, would anyone even notice?

[Ratt]

I got the email. Will post. Give me a couple minutes.

Edit:

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

[mstng86]

less alcohol? ain't nobody got time for that!

[GrayStangGT]

It is about the principle of it, when you market your product as unchanged and full of tradition you can't water it down to make more money without some backlash.

[Shorty]

Sheeeit, the whiskey thread had this news 3 days ago.

http://www.dfwmustangs.net/forums/showpost.php?p=971806&postcount=514

[Roscoe]

It is about the principle of it, when you market your product as unchanged and full of tradition you can't water it down to make more money without some backlash.

This. It may taste the same, but you can't charge the same for an "inferior" product. Expect their sales to slightly decline.

[Ratt]

Sheeeit, the whiskey thread had this news 3 days ago.

http://www.dfwmustangs.net/forums/sh...&postcount=514

I don't go in that thread. I got the email and figured anyone who cared had already heard about it. It's not going to stop me from buying it, I love Maker's Mark.

[Trip McNeely]

Forrest is gonna be pissed.

[330CubeGt]

Such a high demand for it and they want to cut it, sounds like a bad idea to me.

[YALE]

I don't understand why they don't raise the price accordingly. Lowering quality isn't the way to go, if demand is outpacing supply.

[Ratt]

I don't understand why they don't raise the price accordingly. Lowering quality isn't the way to go, if demand is outpacing supply.

I like it, but I'm not going to pay more for it than it already costs.

[YALE]

I like it, but I'm not going to pay more for it than it already costs.

They're doing this to expand their market, which is stupid. I really wonder if they aren't trying to look for a buyer, also.

[talisman]

Not that great any way imo.

[mikec]

I don't understand why they don't raise the price accordingly. Lowering quality isn't the way to go, if demand is outpacing supply.

Could it be argued that they did, in that you get less alcohol for the same money now?

Not that great any way imo.

Agreed. There are lots better on the market.