They just ain’t making Maker’s like they used to. According to company, an apparent bourbon shortage has besieged the company leaving it no choice but to cut the alcohol content of their booze from 45% to 42%.
I’m sorry, but this excuse reeks of marketing spin. What manufacturer decides to dilute their product when they face high demand, rather than just raise the price by 3% and keep the quality intact? In a world where horse meat is increasingly finding its way into “all beef” product, where biotech salmon is soon to hit the streets and where Subway’s foot long sandwiches are less than 12 inches, I’d be willing to bet this is simply just another case of good old fashioned stealth inflation.
From the UK’s Daily Mail:
Distillers of a world famous bourbon has cut its alcohol content so it can meet increasing demand for the drink.
The owners of Maker’s Mark, which is distilled Loretto, Kentucky, said they are unable to produce the bourbon fast enough.
It announced that the bourbon – which used the slogan ‘It tastes expensive… and is’ – will drop its alcohol content by three per cent.
It will now be reduced to 42 per cent ABV from 45 per cent.
Shame they couldn’t just dilute it with horse meat.
Full article here.
In Liberty,
Mike
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Horsemeat scandal: Tesco reveals 60% content in dish
Tesco Tesco Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese was withdrawn from shelves last week
Some Tesco Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese contains 60% horsemeat, DNA tests by the retailer have found.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21418342
No inflation?………..
Fed’s Yellen: Low prices allow unemployment focus
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-yellen-low-prices-allow-unemployment-focus-2013-02-11-139109
Milk fed veal for the plutocrats/central planners only….
Wild Turkey was better anyway.
I don’t know who the guy is that came up with this idea but I’ll bet he’s making well into the 6 figure category and hasn’t got a clue what he’s doing. He’s about as smart as the guy that did away with the wing window on cars. The whiskey business is a business that make easy money and this jerk isn’t satisfied. Somebody please fire this idiot! Better still dip him into the wax. … Head first! I’ll stick with bourbons that offer a quality product with the proper kick. There’s a ton of competition that will allow your product to grow dust on the shelf. Who hired this imbecile?
Reducing the alcohol content from 45% to 42% is not a 3% drop, it is a 6.66% drop. 7 / 45 = 6.66.
Oops! I should have written “3 / 45 = .0666”, not “7 / 45 = 6.66”. Argh.
Is anybody talking about the taxes they’ll save? They will save that same 6% in federal taxes on their production, since the federal alcohol tax is calculated on the percent of alcohol content (actually, on the proof, but the ratio is the same). If they keep the same shelf price, that tax savings will flow directly to their bottom line.
THAT would be the real reason they would drop their alcohol content! Because you can keep the proof the same no matter how much volume is produced; that is something that is purely a function of the production method, not the amount of your sales.
But instead, they will find the function works in reverse: Drop the proof, and you drop the sales.