Makers Mark reverses course. Alcohol content to remain unchanged.

[techs]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/makers-mark-restore-alcohol-content-whiskey-18524914

Maker's Mark to Restore Alcohol Content of Whiskey

After backlash from customers, the producer of Maker's Mark bourbon is reversing a decision to cut the amount of alcohol in bottles of its famous whiskey.

Rob Samuels, Maker's Mark's chief operating officer, said Sunday that it is restoring the alcohol volume of its product to its historic level of 45 percent, or 90 proof. Last week, it said it was lowering the amount to 42 percent, or 84 proof, because of a supply shortage.

"We've been tremendously humbled over the last week or so," Samuels, grandson of the brand's founder, said of customers' reactions.




I'm shocked. They didn't fire their CEO for the worst marketing decision since New Coke?

 

[blackangst1]

whew

 

[TecHNooB]

u should have never mentioned swallowing mercury as a kid, cuz that's all that comes to my mind everytime u post

 

[tcsenter]

After backlash from supposed customers, the producer of Maker's Mark bourbon is reversing a decision to cut the amount of alcohol in bottles of its famous whiskey.

ftfy

 

[OCGuy]

Jack Daniels did it and I guess nobody complained. Water down product slightly = $$$$. People will also need to drink slightly more to get the buzz they want = $$$$

 

[techs]

u should have never mentioned swallowing mercury as a kid, cuz that's all that comes to my mind everytime u post

Seriously, you must be the only person who remembers that. Or the only person that took it seriously.

Now don't bother me. I have a jug of windshield washer fluid that's not going to drink itself.

 

[dr150]

Jack Daniels did it and I guess nobody complained. Water down product slightly = $$$$. People will also need to drink slightly more to get the buzz they want = $$$$

If someone can't get a proper buzz from two fingers worth of bourbon, then they're alcohol consumption is too high and should lay off the sauce for a month to bring their resistance level down.

I applaud MM for going back on their decision to water down their product. Their greed was put in check by their customers. :thumbsup:

 

[arrfep]

ftfy

Totally. I wonder how many of the outraged actually drank Maker's on a regular basis. I thought the original decision and the way it was handle was pretty reasonable.

In the coming months I expect to see a large influx of internet crybabies moaning "waaaah Maker's Mark why did you raise your price...why is there never any Maker's Mark on the store shelves....Maker's Mark is the worst company ever..."

 

[Fenixgoon]

Totally. I wonder how many of the outraged actually drank Maker's on a regular basis. I thought the original decision and the way it was handle was pretty reasonable.

In the coming months I expect to see a large influx of internet crybabies moaning "waaaah Maker's Mark why did you raise your price...why is there never any Maker's Mark on the store shelves....Maker's Mark is the worst company ever..."

yeah i agree - they were running out of supply, so one way to temporarily increase that was to reduce alcohol content.

if they received enough feedback from consumers to say "we want the higher content as opposed to limited supply and/or higher price" then of course it would be smart to go with it.

otherwise, they were just trying to keep up with demand for their product in a very reasonable way IMO

 

[Slew Foot]

Theyll probably drop it without telling anyone now

 

[XLNC]

I'm shocked. They didn't fire their CEO for the worst marketing decision since New Coke?

They should give him a raise. This was never anything more than a publicity stunt, and a very good one at that. If they had any real intention of lowering AC, it would have been done behind closed doors without any mention. With the added exposure, they can now go ahead and raise prices.

MM has always been my drink of choice. If they had lowered AC, I simple would have switched to another brand. Despite all this BS about a "bourbon shortage," there will always be enough good bourbon to go around.

 

[Lonyo]

They will probably still be watering it down, and just adding pure ethanol to bring up the alcohol content.

 

[Mixolydian]

Theyll probably drop it without telling anyone now

This. I bet they'll do it anyway and no one will even notice.

 

[iamwiz82]

I just got the email

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.

 

[Farang]

What a disaster. Instead of trying to fool their customers with talk of "shortages" they should've just raised the price a couple of bucks. People would've noticed but nobody would have said anything because it happens with all alcohol.

 

[preslove]

I wasn't outraged because Makers is an overpriced brand. Plus, the raw alcohol content isn't that big of a deal for whiskey. Apparently they reduced their aging time, which is a much bigger deal for taste:

But if you're furious about Maker's Mark changing it's flavor, sorry, you're already too late. In recent years, again, in an attempt to meet demand, Maker's Mark shorted its barrel-aging process. Traditionally, the spirit was left to age in barrels for nearly seven years, but not long ago they lowered it to under six. That barrel-aging is where bourbon gets its color and i's smokey, woody flavors. Taking a year off the process absolutely alters the amount of flavors a spirit could inherit from the wooden walls. So they've already bucked tradition.

http://gizmodo.com/5984468/why-makers-mark-watering-down-its-whiskey-doesnt-matter-one-bit

Really, there's no reason to drink Makers anymore.

 

[OCGuy]

Theyll probably drop it without telling anyone now

They aren't going to risk government sanction over a few bucks in a legal drug market.

Here in California, the state ABC goes around to restaraunts and checks to make sure what the bartender is pouring is what the label says it is.

This is normally to prevent things like owners from "refilling" a Grey Goose bottle with SKYY and selling it for the premium price.