nourishing obscurity

There are so many examples in the UK of businesses destroying themselves, particularly in Shoreditch and I’ve run posts on it before.  Now there’s another, courtesy Chuckles.

A bottler of whiskey in the States has been hit by huge demand and has taken this step in order to keep up with it:

In an interview Monday, Bill Samuels Jr. said he failed to foresee a worldwide surge in demand for premium bourbon when he was still in charge of the brand about six years ago. As a result, Maker’s Mark is being diluted to 42 percent alcohol by volume, from 45 percent, so more of the whiskey can be bottled to meet demand. That’s a cut from 90 proof to 84 proof.

Is it just Chuckles and I who see it or is he, by so doing, ruining the very product people were clamouring for?    There might be a case that all is well if it weren’t for:

“We don’t want to price Maker’s Mark out of reach,” he wrote. And if you’re thinking a weaker drink will have a weaker price, “The value of Maker’s Mark isn’t set by alcohol volume,” Bill Samuels said.

Pardon me but that looks very much like he is saying that though he’s reducing the product you’ll get, he’ll still greedily keep a premium price on it.

Filed under: Chuckles, Society & human issues