Popular Bourbon Brand Watering Down Product

Bourbon fans, beware.  One brand has become so popular that they say they have no choice but to water down their product.

FOX News Radio’s Jill Nado reports from Washington:

It could be considered the blasphemy of bourbon: Makers Mark fans are on edge as the company that produces it says they’re making it less potent.  They say they have to in order to speed up production.

Makers Mark has gotten so popular that they have to make more of it to keep up with demand, and to do that, they have to make it with less alcohol.  Now, Bourbon is to central Kentucky what the Pope is to Rome—you don’t mess.  And Tom Fischer in Louisville tells Fox News Radio readers of his “Bourbon Blog” have gone over the top with reaction to the change.

(Fischer) “Makers Mark has become such a popular brand, it is one of those that has grown and grown over the last 25 years.  And at bourbonblog.com, we have seen such passion people have had for Makers Mark – their marketing, and their brand and their product is one that people really enjoy.  So that, I think that when people heard this news, they got really excited, outraged, they had a mixture of emotions because they were afraid it wouldn’t taste like the Makers Mark they know, because of the passion.”

(Nado) “It’s a drink that stirs passion, that’s awesome.  But with bourbon, to me, it all tastes like lighter fluid.  What makes Makers Mark stand out?”

(Fischer) “It doesn’t have a lot of bite, it’s smooth, it’s approachable for the cost, for the pricepoint.  It’s a good bourbon, and it’s good by itself and it’s good mixed in.  And, you know, most bourbons that you’re going to find on the shelf always have water added to them because when they take them out of the barrel, the bourbon is around 120-130 proof.  It’s a very high proof that most people, unless you’re a whiskey aficionado, you can’t stomach it very easily.  So what Makers Mark has decided to do is, according to Makers Mark, they want a mixture they can stretch the bourbon further and get it into the hands of thirsty people by taking it down from 45% alcohol – which is 90 proof – to 42%, which is 84 proof.” 

The distillers say they’ve done plenty of testing and tasting to make sure bourbon fans won’t notice a difference.

Jill Nado, FOX News Radio