Maker's Mark to reduce alcohol content

[R8RFAN]

Maker’s Mark won’t water down whiskey, after all

http://myfox8.com/2013/02/17/makers-...key-after-all/

[BigOlChiefsfan]

One more tidbit of info to pass along. An old, established brand whiskey recently changed owners, the old owner pretty much sold it in Kentucky and didn't try to market it out of state - the new owner will market it out of state. It's called 'Very Old Barton' - the old owner, of course, was Barton (a big distillery, most of their product is 'cut rate' liquors) The new owner is Buffalo Trace/Sazerac, and they've been gathering a pretty nice stable of bourbon brands over the past 10 years or so. Anyway - if you see Very Old Barton for sale or behind the bar, give it a try. It's always been a 'great for the money' bourbon, hard to find around here. Another one for bourbon fans who don't intend to spend $45 on an everyday whusk. A little more info below

http://www.bourbonwhiskey.com/

http://www.sazerac.com/

[Mr. Flopnuts]

Frazod nailed it.

[GloryDayz]

Let's hope the IOC goes all Maker's Mark with wrestling...

[Baby Lee]

My supermarket is selling 'moonshine' in a mason jar for $20. Intrigued but not willing to pony up yet.

i.e. they are actually marketing it as some home distilled moonshine.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

My supermarket is selling 'moonshine' in a mason jar for $20. Intrigued but not willing to pony up yet.

i.e. they are actually marketing it as some home distilled moonshine.

I've tried it.

It's not just like the real deal, but I don't dislike it.

Cherry had good flavor and is still 100 proof iirc. Midnight moonshine brand is more authentic flavor. The cherry is good IMO.
Posted via Mobile Device

[SAUTO]

I think that brand is made by junior Johnson
Posted via Mobile Device

[Braincase]

Link

Maker's Mark to stop watering down its whiskey

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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.



The brand known for its square bottles sealed in red wax has struggled to keep up with demand. Distribution has been squeezed, and the brand had to curtail shipments to some overseas markets.


In a tweet Sunday, the company said to its followers: "You spoke. We listened."
The change in recipe started with a shortage of the bourbon amid an ongoing expansion of the company's operations that cost tens of millions of dollars.


Maker's Mark President Bill Samuels, the founder's son, said the company focused almost exclusively on not altering the taste of the bourbon while stretching the available product and didn't consider the emotional attachment that customers have to the brand and its composition.


Bill Samuels said the company tinkered with how much water to add and keep the taste the same for about three months before making the announcement about the change Monday. It marked the first time the bourbon brand, more than a half-century old, had altered its proof or alcohol volume.


"Our focus was on the supply problem. That led to us focusing on a solution," he said. "We got it totally wrong."


Both Bill and Rob Samuels said customer reaction was immediate. Company officials heard from "thousands and thousands of consumers" that a bourbon shortage was preferable to a change in how the spirits were made, Bill Samuels said.


"They would rather put up with the occasional supply shortage than put up with any change in their hand-made bourbon," Rob Samuels said.


The change in alcohol volume called for the recipe and process to stay the same, except for a "touch more water" to be added when the whiskey comes out of the barrel for bottling, Rob Samuels said.


When production restarts Monday, those plans are off the table, Bill Samuels said.
"We really made this decision after an enormous amount of thought, and we focused on the wrong things," he said.


Maker's Mark is owned by spirits company Beam Inc., based in Deerfield, Ill. Its other brands include Jim Beam bourbon.


Maker's Mark is made at a distillery near the small town of Loretto, 45 miles south of Louisville.


The bourbon ages in barrels for at least six summers and no longer than seven years before bottling.


The supply shortage at Maker's comes amid growing demand for Kentucky bourbons in general.


Combined Kentucky bourbon and Tennessee whiskey sales from producers or suppliers to wholesalers rose 5.2 percent to 16.9 million cases last year, according to the Distilled Spirits Council, a national trade association that released figures last week. Revenue shot up 7.3 percent to $2.2 billion, it said. Premium brands, generally made in smaller batches with heftier prices, led sales and revenue gains.


Kentucky produces 95 percent of the world's bourbon supply, according to the Kentucky Distillers' Association. There are 4.9 million bourbon barrels aging in Kentucky, which outnumbers the state's population.

[Johnny Vegas]

even they couldn't go on with the slaughter of their brand. look watering it down to 3% from its original alcohol content isn't night and day. In fact you wouldn't be able to tell unless you seen the bottle beforehand. I had a corn whiskey distiller pour 150 proof moonshine in a bottle that labeled it 80 proof. I won't say the brand, ever, but holy shit when people seen it was 80 proof it was on, then after a shot they swore up and down that wasn't the right proof. Was a great prank to pull on someone with that shit. Bottom line, label is a label, proof is in the effect.

[jspchief]

So instead people find an empty shelf, choose something else, and how many come away preferring that over Maker's Mark?

[Strongside]

Had this for the first time the other night. Delicious.



I'm not a HUGE fan of MM, but I do love me some 46...

[Reerun_KC]

www.whiskeystill.net


Thinking of getting one of these...

[InChiefsHeaven]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

www.whiskeystill.net


Thinking of getting one of these...

Always wanted to, but not sure if it's legal to distill spirits in NE. I know if you are licensed you can, but don't know about home consumption.

[Rausch]

Knowing us this could be counted as the 2nd SOC's victory...

[the Talking Can]

the least surprising turn of events ever:

hey we're going to dilute our 'distinctive' product and still claim it's distinctive...cool?


no, idiot


...um, ok, after being slapped in the face we're not going to water down our 'distinctive' product...let's just pretend this never happened, cool?