BREAKING NEWS: BourbonBlog.com ‘s Tom Fischer spoke today with Rob Samuels, Chief Operating Officer of Makers Mark Bourbon Distillery, by phone as Samuels confirms that Maker’s Mark is reducing the ABV of their Bourbon by 3% effective immediately from 45% ABV (90 proof) to 42% ABV (84 proof).
The reduction of proof will be permanent for this global brand and will help Maker’s Mark to put their popular Bourbon in the hands of consumers who are having difficulty finding Maker’s on the shelves.
BourbonBlog.com is the first media outlet to report this story and publish an interview with Rob Samuels. Twitter activity on @BourbonBlog and emails to our inbox have been full of questions.
We want to help answer those with our interview with Rob and story below AND we’re asking for your comments and feedback to the news on this link!
Maker’s Mark bottled at the reduced 42% proof may be on shelves as soon as the next few weeks
With aged product in massive demand coming from a single source supply in Loretto, Kentucky, there are challenges filling demands.
“We’ve been adding on new aging warehouses and we’re looking at building a new third distillery in Loretto sometime soon to keep up with demand.” says Samuels.
“We’ve confirmed the taste of the 84 proof Maker’s is exactly the same as what consumers taste in the 90 proof by our tasting panel,” explains Samuels.
This tasting panel consists of full time Maker’s Mark employees.
Maker’s Mark reached out to their Maker’s Mark Ambassadors by email today to let them know first about this change (see full email test below).
For loyal fans of Maker’s Mark Bourbon that are questioning how this change will be noticed by their own tastebuds, Samuels says he is confident that when fans taste Maker’s Mark for themselves that their reviews will be the same as they have always been.
Maker’s Mark Bourbon Collection: Maker’s Mark Bourbon, Maker’s 46 and Maker’s White
The Maker’s Mark Bourbon brand as we know today was born in 1953 (watch our archived video interview below with Rob Samuels as he tells Tom Fischer the story of Maker’s Mark)
“My grandparents decided to bring Bourbon and good taste together for the first time in 1953,” Samuels says.
He explains that back then as it is today, Maker’s Mark wasn’t about proof, it was about the flavor. When the brand started, the Bourbon was bottled 45% ABV (90 proof)
“My grandparents created a Bourbon without the bite, bitterness, and revolutionized the whole process.”
So how much will the proof reduction help Maker’s Mark bring Bourbon to thirsty fans?
“Not a huge amount with the growth of the brand. However, this will help us extend the supplies. The change will help us get Maker’s on the shelves,” Samuels tells us.
You may see the Maker’s Mark Bourbon bottled at the new 42% ABV on shelves within the next few weeks.
Maker’s Mark 46’s at 94 proof, only available in the U.S. and some Canadian markets, will stay the same the same proof says Samuels.
While there once were Maker’s Mark Japanese and international only exports of varying proofs, the only other product that Maker’s Mark Distillers currently produces is the Maker’s White, the un-aged distillate of Maker’s Mark available only at the Maker’s Mark Distillery gift shop.
For the latest breaking news, reviews and updates from the world of Bourbon , we invite you subscribe to our free Bourbon Newsletter here!
Interview with Rob Samuels, Story of Maker’s Mark
Official E-mail to Maker’s Mark Ambassadors
From: Rob Samuels <[email protected]>
Rob Samuels. Chief Operating Officer of Makers Mark Bourbon Distillery and Ambassador-in-Chief
Date: February 9, 2013, 9:16:34 AM EST
Subject: A message for our Ambassadors
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
Maker’s Mark White available only at Maker’s Mark Distillery Gift Shop
LATEST PODCAST
Kyle
Of course they are going to reduce the price. Or maybe they’ll update the slogan from the 70’s to “It tastes inexpensive…..but it isn’t”.
Drake Pruitt
I love Makers, but the story doesn’t really hold together. Increased demand should not be a driver of a recipe change, even with an aged product. Makers would be better served by raising price and shifting incremental/lost demand to other less premium products in their line. “Watering down” comes off negative for the brand no matter what the logic.
Fred Smith
I do remember when Jack Daniels went from 90 proof to 80 proof and many people went to 90 proof bourbons such as Makers Mark..
In North Carolina liquor tax is driving people away from costly bourbons, especially lower proofs..
David
If Maker’s Mark, as presently formulated, is so popular that it’s becoming difficult to find in stores (not the case in New York, where every liquor store large and small seems to stock it), Maker’s Mark should be able to benefit from the cachet of having a hard-to-find product, and basic economics says that if it’s highly desirable and difficult to find, one might be able to charge more for it. Instead, Maker’s Mark has decided to tamper with a successful product, water down their whiskey, hope no one will notice because nine people whose livelihood depends on the company’s viability said it tastes the same, and foist it off on the public. If a company takes so little pride in the integrity of its product that it’s willing to dilute it in the name of profit (plainly the motive here, as there’s no assertion that the change is to improve the bourbon) then why should I or anyone else keep buying it? There’s always Knob Creek or Rowan’s Creek out there.
Brad
Team Woodford Reserve. If you can’t keep up with demand for your product, making said product worse is not the answer.
Mores
Dirty communists (not a coincidence the wax is red, huh?) I will forthwith smash my hand-dipped bottle over a young Irishman’s head to display my outrage at this decision.
Blaine
I kind of like getting a nice buzz from just a couple of Makers. I guess now I will have to drink a little more to get the same effect. Makers is already very expensive in Washington state.If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it….
Nigel
Seriously disappointing… never ever EVER tamper with your product. This smells like marketing to me. Extensive testing…? You mean ‘we think the majority are so stupid you won’t be able to tell the difference’. Here in New Zealand our Makers Mark is 40% and in comparison the 45% is so unbelievably superior – and yes we can tell the difference. A wise man once said if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Al Hollister
I am a long, long time drinker of MM. Hope the taste/quality isn’t affected. When I first started drinking Makers it was so new, at least out west, that they never heard of it in Las Vegas. I will withhold condemning the move until I taste and compare. Does anyone know how the similar reduction a few years back affected Jack Daniel’s sales? I don’t drink that rotgut so don’t really care but just curious. And if you ever get a chance to visit the MM distillery do it. Beautiful place but unless they have changed in the last few years no tasting, just a sample piece of MM candy.
Steve
Very disappointing. There was a reason Samuel’s grandfather chose the recipe as it was. The only reason you mess with a great brand at the height of demand & dwindling supply is to maintain sales volume & profit. Samuels will regret this. He should keep Makers as it is (was), let it be hard to get, expand distilleries, and, in time, demand & supply will balance out and a great brand will be preserved.