Hope you like your Maker's Mark with a splash of water...

js4design · Feb 9, 2013

I received this email from them today.

Maker's Mark said:
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 [email protected] or [email protected]. 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

I rarely drink Maker's these days unless I'm in a bar with a limited bourbon selection, but this is disappointing.

why · Feb 9, 2013

I'm with you re: Maker's. It's too sweet.

Kind of strange that their solution is to reduce Maker's below the de facto ABV standard,

Huntsman · Feb 9, 2013

Not a fan of the wheaters anyway, so whatevs. I probably wouldn't mind if they reduced the price by 3%; because I do correct the proof of most spirits I drink neat, I look at high proof spirits as better value for money.

All the same, my bottle of Maker's will still sit unopened on the bar in case someone wants it, like it has for some time. Same with the bottle of Knob Creek that I still prefer. My well is the handle of Woodford these days -- it straddles the line between the wheaters and the rye-based spirits and so is good for cocktails.

~ H

edmorel · Feb 9, 2013

I actually like Makers 46 and I use the normal Makers mostly for marinades/sauces so it doesn't effect me a whole lot but this is rather BS on their part. Its not like they are a small distillery and I know bourbon has exploded but they should be able to keep up (or raise their prices rather than dilute the product). Actually, I just realized that I have a lot of bourbon here :embar:

Piobaire · Feb 9, 2013

Interesting to hear demand is such they cannot meet it. Good for them.

I do not mind Maker's in the least. Great QPR and makes a decent Old Fashioned. Also good for cooking.

Ed, same here. I went from a couple bottles five years ago to probably 10 bottles in my bar today.

Thomas · Feb 9, 2013

no kidding, I have maybe 10 bottles as well (4 of Stagg) but Makers isn't one of them.

impolyt_one · Feb 9, 2013

There is probably increased demand in the export markets, like Asia. They put Maker's Mark on the market here in Korea just a few years ago, and I'd imagine China probably hasn't had it too long either. They also sell that Maker's Mint Julep year-round in Japan. haha.

js4design · Feb 9, 2013

Perhaps I'm being cynical, but my first inclination is that this move by Maker's seems like less about filling demand and more about justifying a change to increase profit margins. But the increased demand from the Asian market does make sense.

gnatty8 · Feb 10, 2013

js4design said:
Perhaps I'm being cynical, but my first inclination is that this move by Maker's seems like less about filling demand and more about justifying a change to increase profit margins. But the increased demand from the Asian market does make sense.

Odd. Every one of the liquor stores I have been in within the last 2 weeks has loads and loads of Maker's Mark. Sounds strange to me. I would probably drink nail polish remover before I'd open a bottle of MM. That said, I predict MM will announce that they've listened to the people and reversed their plan to mess with their time honored recipe, etc. etc.

Huntsman · Feb 10, 2013

^ Because you don't like it, or because you are offended by their actions?

I don't think it's awful or anything; it's very good bourbon, though not my cup of tea -- I like more rye on the mashbill. It does seem like a bit of a stunt, though.
~
H

gnatty8 · Feb 10, 2013

The former. I have tried to give it a chance, but I just don't care for it. It is the epitomy of bland IMO.

Pennglock · Feb 10, 2013

Thats one of the strangest things Ive ever read if true. Their reaction to a supply shortage is to dilute the product instead of raising prices..?

Huntsman · Feb 10, 2013

Oh, it's true all right -- all my bartender friends are complaining. And its not April. I think that instead of waiting, they want to a) make more money off of each liter of uncut whiskey, b) get wider distribution to gain greater market penetration now.. Not particularly admirable.

gnatty8 · Feb 10, 2013

If this IS true, and not some cynical, yet admittedly clever marketing strategy, I put the odds as very high that they will alienate their hardcore base, but the average bourbon drinker, particularly in the export market, won't even notice. In other words, they seem to have made a calculated decision that keeping their base happy is not as economic as selling more bottles of less potent whiskey.

edmorel · Feb 10, 2013

I just got an email from my local place that the MM is on sale

Hope you like your Maker's Mark with a splash of water...

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