Maker's Mark to restore alcohol content of whiskey
FILE- This file still frame image
made from video provided by Maker's Mark Distillery Inc., shows a bottle of
Maker's Mark in an advertisement. After a 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. (AP Photo/Marker's Mark Distillery Inc., File)
BRETT
BARROUQUERE , The Associated Press
Posted: Sunday, February 17, 2013,
5:58 PM
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - 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."
Fans of the whiskey applauded the
move and questioned why the company moved to change in the first place.
"Some things you just got to
leave alone," Todd Matthews, 42, of Livingston, Tenn., said.
Company officials said much customer
feedback came from Twitter and Facebook. On those sites, comments on Sunday's
change of course ranged from angry to celebratory to self-congratulatory. The
statement on Maker's Mark's Facebook page drew more than 14,000
"likes" and 2,200 comments within two hours of Sunday's announcement.
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 Chairman Emeritus 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," Bill Samuels 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,"
Bill Samuels said.
Maker's Mark is owned by spirits
company Beam Inc., based in Deerfield, Ill. Its other brands include Jim Beam
bourbon.
Maker's is made at a distillery near
the small town of Loretto, 45 miles south of Louisville.
Its 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.
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