Maker's Mark reducing ABV by 3% to meet demand

There's obviously no benefit for the consumers, since locally there was not a shortage of MM and obviously the prices are not going to go down.

Always truly done is take an iconic brand name and diminish its standing in the marketplace!

Might not have been a shortage meaning not much available period. But certain sizes were not available on the wholesale level recently. 1.75s and 200ml bottles were absent at most retailers in ky last holiday season. They have slowly been replenished but the shortage is not contrived.

Our own local conglomerate brown forman started this with Jack Daniels a few years ago. So they are not innocent in the lower proofing to increase supply and meet demand thing.

The average consumer of makers will not know nor will they care. They still think MM is a small family owned company using an ancient family recipe and red wax.

Stephen, I really don't understand your defense of this move. It is obviously just based on corporate greed on the part of Jim Beam. There's obviously no benefit for the consumers, since locally there was not a shortage of MM and obviously the prices are not going to go down. Whether consumers can or cannot taste the difference is yet to be seen, only time will tell, but obviously this move was not made to benefit consumers in any way.

Always truly done is take an iconic brand name and diminish its standing in the marketplace!

I simply take a big-picture view of the situation.

People slam Emeril, but he introduced millions to the love of food. MMark does that for Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey.

Paint the world with MMark, cause the Kulsveens and Bulleits and Shapiras benefit. Heck, we may even sell more tickets to the Derby.

If you are a bourbon enthusiast, it's not the first place you go to, but it does quite fine when you are in the airport in Kyoto.

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Maker's is a wheated bourbon . . . if you switch from that, why not try Larceny for a somewhat similar flavor profile!

MM is being quite disingenuous here. This is a self-inflicted problem they are using to justify a price increase.

If you visit Chuck Cowderys blog he explains the capacity issues at MM very well. In a nutshell they had plans to build another still house that was interrupted by the sale of the company to Beam. Beam then dragged their feet and now there is a legitimate shortage of their product.

They have enough water capacity to increase production by another 50% from 1.5 million cases to 2.2 million cases with another stillhouse but it is not yet under construction. The plans are complete and have been for some time.

There is a parallel here with Wild Turkey. They have introduced a lower proof product to "stretch" inventory while waiting for product to mature.

This is all consistent with the exploding growth in the Whisky and Bourbon markets. None of the major distillers anticipated such a surge in demand, and worry how long it will last. They are reluctant to invest a fortune and then later have to mothball production facilities as they did 20-30 years ago during the Whiskey bust period.

A three percent ABV reduction means you have to drink 3% more for the same buzz. This is a price increase. No more, no less. When and if capacity increases in the future, I see a "Original Makers Mark" label at the original ABV for a premium price.

I just received a second e-mail from MM. The first was from Rob Samuels. This one was penned by his dad Bill Samuels after I wrote asking where they would get the water for increasing production. The reason I asked is because during my tour this fall my tourguide said they were at max capacity due to the limitations of their natural spring.

He didn't answer the water question although Cowdery said they raised the dam to impound more water. Bill did restate his position that the reduced proof doesn't change the taste of their Bourbon.

He also wrote that all MM was aged between five years - nine months and seven years. The first time I recall that precise an age statement.

My primary concern is what Beam will do next to try and squeeze more profit out of MM. It's not your family owned and controlled business anymore.

What a PR nightmare. Reminds me of "New Coke" or "Crystal Pepsi".

A) If they didnt anticipate demand they need to fire their operations and marketing officers.
B) Then they should fire the brand manager for not simply raising prices rather than watering down the bourbon and creating this PR nightmare.

Again, I have a number of serious issues with this (as I'm sure you noted from my previous inflammatory post), but the largest thing here is the spin. It's a BS move, and I highly doubt anyone appreciates MM telling them "don't worry, you won't taste a difference." It belittles the entire experience. It's contrary to every thing MM has said over the years. Taste matters. Proof matters. Don't tell me that I won't notice a difference. Let me decide that. It's crap.

I could solve this problem with the stroke of the corporate pen...and that would be to discontinue the sale of Bourbon to China and the eastern European market. Matter of fact, the day I find out someone has shut off the tap to these markets is the day I begin -exclusively- drinking that distillers products.

I also think their entire statement about product shortages is total BS, at least as far as the local market goes. Any liquor store I've been into recently had a significant inventory of MM. Tonight we were in Evergreen liquors and they had at least 3 or 4 cases on the shelf and I don't know how much more in the back room.

No matter how they spin this change is certainly just based on corporate greed!

I also think their entire statement about product shortages is total BS, at least as far as the local market goes. Any liquor store I've been into recently had a significant inventory of MM. Tonight we were in Evergreen liquors and they had at least 3 or 4 cases on the shelf and I don't know how much more in the back room.

No matter how they spin this change is certainly just based on corporate greed!

The shortage exists. Certain sizes were unavailable on the wholesale level towards the end of last year in kentucky. Like i said earlier, they have been replenished.

Makers is made 30 miles away, they will make sure that the product is on the shelf locally. It is tough to visualize a shortage when we are at the proverbial beach looking out at an ocean of makers mark. When the weatherman talks about a drought but you look outside and its pouring. Your current perspective makes believing what the weatherman says tough.

Yeah, well, they're still hypocrites.

Makers Mark's new marketing strategy:



BOOM!

There is a shortage. I've got a friend who is an executive at another area distillery, that will remain unnamed, is currently ringing the warning bell very loud at his distillery. They show projections of running out of certain styles in a few years. It's not BS, it's real and you will hear more distillers talking about how they will handle it in the near future. This is just the first one addressing it and telling you about it.

Is this ironic?

http://blogs.courier-journal.com/derbyc ... y-in-2004/

Before Maker’s Mark, the last big distiller to water down its whiskey might have been Jack Daniels in 2004.

Maker’s announced over the weekend that it will begin cutting its famous red-wax sealed bourbon with more water, stretching supply to meet increased demand.

But when the Tennessee whiskey maker did the same in 2004 with Jack Daniels, it was an executive from Beam Inc. — which now owns Maker’s Mark — who criticized the decision, saying it suggested Jack Daniels was straying from its “roots.”

According to a 2004 AP story:

Jim Beam Brands Worldwide Inc. noted it has no plans to lower the alcohol content of its 210-year-old recipe.

“I think it’s interesting that our primary competitor says they’ve been true to their roots yet they’ve lowered their proof and altered their recipe,” said Dave Racicot, senior director of global marketing for Jim Beam, which is distilled in Clermont, Ky.

Racicot was speaking on behalf of Jim Beam, as Beam did not acquire Maker’s Mark until the following year, 2005. But isn’t the principle the same?

I have just emailed the story to a Beam spokesman at the company’s headquarters in Deerfield, Ill. No response so far.

There is a shortage.

I read the articles as saying this is due to increased demand. That is not the same as shortage. There is the same amount of Makers, just more people buying.

In which case you either create more product, or increase the products price. OR if you want to crap on your customer you just water down the drink.