at mid-range bars, and a well drink among high-end bars. On February 17, the company said that it had reconsidered its decision after receiving a strong negative reaction from customers, and that it would continue to bottle at the original strength. Some overseas markets like Australia will continue to sell the whiskey at 40%. In January 2014, Beam Inc. announced its sale to Suntory, creating Beam Suntory, the third largest distilled spirits maker in the world. News of the proposed sale included bourbon executives vowing "the product taste won't change – and neither will the company's historic purity standards." In 2014, Maker's Mark released a Maker's Mark Cask Strength Bourbon in limited quantities initially available to consumers only at their distillery gift shop. Proof fluctuates each batch between 53% and 58% abv. The product was released on the global market in July 2016. In November 2015 Beam Suntory announced a major expansion of the distillery. In November 2018, Dave Pickerell, who served as master distiller, died at 62 years old. Pickerell was called the "Johnny Appleseed of American Whiskey". In June 2019, the company announced it would begin selling Maker’s Mark 101, bottled at 101 U.S. proof, at their distillery. The higher proof bourbon was first introduced at duty-free airport shops in 2018. About the bourbon Maker's Mark is unusual in that no rye is used as part of the mash. Instead of rye Maker's Mark uses red winter wheat (16%), along with corn (70%) and malted barley (14%) in the mash bill. During the planning phase of Maker's Mark, Samuels allegedly developed seven candidate mash bills for the new bourbon. As he did not have time to distill and age each one for tasting, he instead made a loaf of bread from each recipe and the one with no rye was judged the best tasting. Samuels also received considerable assistance and recipes from Stitzel-Weller owner Pappy Van Winkle, whose distillery produced the wheated Old Fitzgerald and W. L. Weller bourbons. Maker's Mark is aged for around six years, being bottled and marketed when the company's tasters agree that it is ready. Maker's Mark is one of the few distillers to rotate the barrels from the upper to the lower levels of the aging warehouses during the aging process to even out the differences in temperature during the process. The upper floors are exposed to the greatest temperature variations during