To me Makers was already a subpar julep liquor for the reason it was 90 proof. Making any weaker simply takes it totally out of contention for serious bartenders. The reality is people who are not serious already don't care and they'll make a julep out of regular Jim Beam. Makers is not in that market though, I generally think of Makers as a good default fallback whiskey if I can't get some great 100 proof small batch whiskey. If they simply turn it into Jim Beam, they're neutering their brand. You have to have SOMETHING so you can charge an extra 7 or 8 bucks, even if it's exclusively perception.

Are you sure about this? Cocktails are already heavily diluted; isn't the booziness of the bourbon a rounding error?

Here's a great Dave Arnold article:

http://www.cookingissues.com/2009/10/29/cocktail-science-v-i...

You mean those people paying $2,000 for a bottle of champagne in Vegas are just getting regular ol' $50 bottles of the stuff? I'm shocked! =)

So that they can impress girls at the club who they have to pay for afterwords?