The Philosophy of Maker's Mark

by Mark H. Waymack

In May of 1998, Maker's Mark celebrated its fortieth year of putting its whisky into bottles for sale. In each of those forty years, the demand for Maker's Mark whisky has grown -- a remarkable fact in a generation where the "brown spirits" have generally been in decline. To what should we attribute such success? The secret to this success is the operating philosophy of Maker's Mark, a philosophy born by T. Williams Samuels in the 1950s, and brought to full blossom by his son, T. William ("Bill") Samuels, Jr. That philosophy can be summed up in four key character traits of Maker's Mark: elegance, quality, honesty, integrity.

Elegance:

When T. William Samuels created Maker's Mark he was already bucking a downward trend in the bourbon industry. Why would any sane entrepreneur build into an industry where there was already excess capacity and the trend was going the wrong direction?

Samuels' conviction was that there was a hidden, unserved market for a different kind of bourbon than was on the market in the 1950s. He saw a market for an elegant whisky. There was, in his thinking, a customer who was not buying bourbon because the bourbons on the market in the 1950s lacked refinement. Instead of the relatively heavy, harsh, minimally aged bourbons so common in the post-Prohibition and post World War II era, Samuels sought to create a more refined, clean, smooth, delicate whisky. After all, why couldn't a native American bourbon be just as elegant as some French brandy? Samuels saw no reason why there could not be such a whisky.

So, he experimented with a variety of formulations and distilling apparati. From the Old Fitzgerald distillery in Louisville he learned how a mash bill that replaced the traditional rye with wheat could produce a whisky that was still full on the palate, but which lacked the coarseness that a heavy dose of rye would add. Although he dabbled with an old copper pot still as part of the process, he chose to go with a traditional copper column still.

And so that the public would understand that this whisky was meant to be elegant, Samuels (with the advice of his wife) settled on the distinctive Maker's Mark shaped bottled dipped in the trade-mark red wax.

Samuels seems to have been right. Not wanting to be a flash in the pan, Maker's Mark has focused on steady, sustainable growth. Without becoming trendy, it has grown every single year of its existence. Indeed, it has now grown to the point where Maker's Mark worries that it will not have sufficient bourbon to satisfy its market.

Quality:

From the founding of Maker's Mark right up to this very day, there has been a consistent, unflagging commitment to quality.

Some of this devotion to quality can be seen in the attention to details. Visit the picturesque Maker's Mark distillery: It is a real showcase. From the manicured landscaping to the paint on the walls, no detail is allowed out of place. There is, without doubt, no prettier distillery in America.

Of course, attention to the cosmetic details of outward appearance won't go very far if the whisky in the bottle isn't much good. And any conversation with Dave Nally (Master Distiller) or Dave Pickerel (engineer and manager) suggest that the same attention to detail pervades the whisky-making process.

Attention to quality begins with the selection of grains. Then the grains are crushed with an old-fashioned roller mill because, the argument goes, a roller mill does not heat the grain as much as the more common hammer mill. Only the best water, naturally filtered by limestone beds, goes into the long, slow cook. Fermentation takes place in seemingly ancient cypress fermenters -- hell to keep clean, but they probably add that faintest hint of butterscotch or toffee that adds depth to the whisky. Then on to a copper still, which any visitor can see is not only functional but also a real aesthetic achievement. And finally into the barrel. In typical Maker's Mark choosiness, the wood for the barrels is supposed to be naturally aged much longer than the industry standard in order to avoid any "green" spots where oak sap might leach into the whisky. Filled and sealed with a burlap square and a walnut bung (to make frequent access for testing easy), the barrels are racked in traditional warehouses. There they sleep for about six years, rotated in a labor-intensive practice, from top to bottom of the warehouse and from center to margins. Many of these steps go beyond the industry average, so to speak, but the firm unswaying reasoning is, "quality."

Honesty:

There is an undeniable honesty to Maker's Mark. I don't mean that everyone at Maker Mark is a moral saint. Nor do I mean that Maker's Mark always take the moral high ground. Anyone who follows the advertizing campaigns or who has attended some of the annual Bourbon Festivals in Bardstown, Kentucky, knows full well that the Maker's Mark crowd can be a bit sharp in its criticisms of other distilleries and their bourbons. Nevertheless, what I mean is that there is an unmistakable faithfulness at Maker's Mark to their product.

Two illustrations may make the point.

First, any one who visits a liquor store will surely notice that there are hundreds of bourbon labels. Yet, how can that be when there are only nine operating Bourbon distilleries in Kentucky? The obvious answer is that some distilleries bottle under a variety of labels. Indeed, some distilleries own two hundred or more labels, though they do not use all of them at any one time.

As far as I know, there are only two distilleries in Kentucky where every bottle of whiskey that comes from those distilleries proudly bears the name of that distillery. They are Wild Turkey and Maker's Mark. You will never find Maker's Mark whisky under some label other than "Maker's Mark." They don't put under-aged whiskey into a different label and sell it cheaply. Nor do they take their best and sell it a greatly higher prices under a different label.

Which brings us to the second illustration. Starting in the 1980's, the rest of the bourbon industry realized what Bill Samuels, Sr. had been betting on in the 1950's: that there was an upscale market for quality bourbon. Ancient Age, prodded by master distiller Elmer T. Lee, bottled its first "single barrel" bourbon under the "Blanton's" label in 1984, and now virtually every distiller has a "special" line of either single-barrel or small batch bourbons.

Now, although the hype and proliferation of single-barrel and small batch bourbons could easily get out of hand, there is some truth to the product differentiation. A sip of Knob Creek or Booker's, both small batch bourbon from the Jim Beam folk, affirms that they are quite different, and leagues better, than the white label Jim Beam. And Blanton's is reliably better than the regular Ancient Age. Wild Turkey's Kentucky Spirit is better than its regular 101. And so on. This is partly attributable to longer age in the barrel and partly attributable to selecting out the choicest barrels for separate bottling.

Maker's Mark has steadfastly refused to enter the single barrel or small batch market. Two reasons explain their refusal.

First, the annual production of Maker's Mark is quite small to begin with. They are only producing around 300,000 cases a year. So, whereas Jim Beam, for example, might produce some 1,200 barrels per day, Maker's Mark fills around 40 barrels per day. According to Bill Samuels, that means that every barrel and every bottle of Maker's Mark is "small batch" to begin with. With such a small run, there can be no excuse for anything but the best. So the mission of the distillery is to make every single bottle of Maker's Mark "the best."

Second, it remains true that despite attention to quality in distilling, despite the time-honored tradition of rotating barrels in the warehouse, because of the individuality of barrels, some barrels wind up being different, even better than other barrels. So, one could, in theory, bottle a few bottles of super-premium Maker's Mark.

But Bill Samuels has vehemently and repeatedly sworn that no such thing will be done. Because the output is so small to begin with, to select out exceptionally superior barrels would rob the regular label Maker's Mark. In an operation the size of Jim Beam, you can set a few of those exceptional barrels aside for Booker's Bourbon, and there will be absolutely no noticeable difference in the regular bottlings of Jim Beam. But at Maker's Mark, when it is bottling time, every barrel selected makes an important contribution. So to take out even a couple of barrels of "the best" would change what's inside that bottle with the red wax seal. Bill Samuels thinks that would be cheating his customers: and he has no doubt that aficionados of Maker's Mark would notice the difference.

So, despite the trendiness of single barrel and small batch, a Maker's Mark is a Maker's Mark is a Maker's Mark.

Integrity:

Curiously, while Maker's Mark was the original "high end" bourbon of this century, it is by no means the most expensive. Far from it. When you can find many bourbons selling on the shelves for $20-$50, and even a few that run as high as $70 a bottle, Maker's Mark looks extremely affordable. (In my own opinion, it represents one of the best quality-to-cost ratios around.)

Well, Bill Samuels has managed to persuade the account types that Maker's Mark should sell for a fair price. Even though price gouging might work for a short while in a heated market, customer's who are treated with fairness and integrity will stick with you for the long haul. And a smart business man keeps his eye on the long haul. Besides, it's just the right thing to do.

All of which brings us to the success of Maker's Mark today. As Maker's Mark has gradually found its market, and remained true to its consumers, the growth in demand has been unwavering and steadily increasing. Which has now created awkward dilemmas: What happens when the demand for Maker's mark whisky exceeds the supply?

Always anticipating some increase in demand (and remember, the whisky you sell today must have begun its life about six years ago), the distillery has steadily increased its production. Even so, they now approach the point where all of the barrels holding whisky that is ready for bottling will have been bottled. So, shortages could develop.

Of course, the usual economic response of a business to such a situation would be a combination of two strategies: one, produce more, and two increase prices.

Maker's Mark has indeed explored the possibility of producing more whisky. A plan to build a second still right next door was developed. But two snags hit: First, could one assure that the whisky that came off the second still, even if it were as close a replica as possible, would taste exactly the same as the whisky off the first still, the whisky now known as Maker's Mark? And the answer was, "Ahead of time, you could not be sure." Perhaps it would work, but it would be a big gamble.

A second problem, however, also came to the forefront. Water. One of the character-making ingredients of whisky is the water from which it is made. Yet the supply of water to the distillery is limited. It is not limited by the size of the pipe.

It is limited by how much water there is to be had. Only so much water comes from the limestone spring. And however much you might wish more water flowed out, there is only as much as there is. So even if they could exactly replicate a second still, there would not be enough water available to make enough "beer" to keep a second still busy.

Well then, how about raising prices? Well, one of the consistent paeans of Maker's Mark has been honesty and value. Sure, they could raise their prices. And the trend setters might clear the market -- for a while. But their long-term, loyal, appreciative customer would be lost. And that they do not want to happen.

Perhaps Maker's Mark will disappear from some markets, so that others might be satisfied? We can only wait and find out.

Oh yes, the whisky. How does the whisky taste?

Maker's Mark is not a heavy, block-buster of a whisky. If one were to make an analogy to wines, if Booker's, Knob Creek, Wild Turkey, and such as Blanton's are the dense, concentrated, first growth Bordeaux or top class California cabernet, then Maker's Mark is an elegant, drinker-friendly Beaujolais or California merlot. The wheat gives it a noticeable lightness. The fermentation in the cypress tanks adds a certain caramel or butterscotchy roundness.The distillation cut is aggressive at producing a clean whisky. The length and care in aging produce additional smoothness, vanilla, a touch of honey. It's a great mixer (makes a dynamite Manhattan). But i like it best with some ice and just a splash of spring water.