All language subtitles for The.Food.That.Built.America.S04E10.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

- [Narrator]
Americans drink over

500 million gallons
of spirits per year,

and vodka is the best
selling liquor in America.

While bourbon is king of the
iconic American whiskey market,

raking in $19 billion a year-

- Could you really picture an
American drinking landscape

without vodka or bourbon?

- [Narrator] But less
than 90 years ago,

vodka is seen as
unfamiliar Russian swill.

- You see the problem?
- It's got no taste.

- [Narrator] While bourbon
was the bitter-tasting product

of a dying industry,

getting swallowed up by the
invasion of foreign imports.

- A lot of whiskey
brands don't survive.

- We are going to get crushed.

- [Narrator] Until two
visionary leaders risk it all.

- Smirnoff Vodka started
in the US as an underdog.

- To create two of the most
celebrated liquor brands

of all time, Maker's
Mark and Smirnoff.

- This is it.

- [Narrator] Transforming
a floundering business

into an $87 billion industry.

- That red dripping wax

changed not only the
bourbon industry,

but all of spirits.

- [Narrator] They'll
bring distilling

back to American shores.

- I think we might
have something there.

- This was one of those moments

that would help change the game.

- [Narrator] And almost
single-handedly create

the top shelf of
American spirits.

- These spirits
become real lynchpins

to the celebratory
moments in our lives,

and it all comes back
to these risk-takers.

(dramatic music)

(pensive music)

- [Narrator] It's 1933

and after 13 years of
futile enforcement efforts,

the nationwide ban
on the manufacturing,

transportation,
and sale of alcohol

known as prohibition
is repealed.

And the once thriving
American spirit industry

now must attempt to
rise from the ashes.

- American spirits are the
roots of American culture.

George Washington
was a distiller.

This stuff built the
United States of America.

There is not a
single road or city

that is built without
alcohol taxes.

- [Narrator] While
beer, wine, gin,

brandy, and rum were all
enjoyed prior to prohibition,

one uniquely American drink

was king of the spirits world.

- In the British colonial era,

Americans really turned
to whiskey as something

that could be grown from grain

that grows in New York,
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania.

- Prior to prohibition, this
was an all-out whiskey country.

- [Narrator] Of the
approximately 2,000 distilleries

that made alcohol before
prohibition, only six survived

under the pretense of
selling medicinal alcohol.

- This American ban on alcohol

creates an opportunity

for all kinds of
international boot legging

and the rise of a
cross-border alcohol industry.

- Canada didn't
have prohibition.

You could just take a rowboat
out to international water,

and there were all these boats

that were floating liquor stores

with Canadian whiskey, Scotch
whiskey, some Irish whiskey,

all that were very happy
to sell you illegally.

So, their distilling
industry flourished

during American prohibition.

- [Narrator] The illicit
trade flooded American shores

with millions of cases of exotic
liquors during prohibition.

- It helped undercut the entire
American whiskey industry

while the Americans

are shackled to having
bootlegged whiskey

that started opening
the door for spirits

that Americans had
not really had before.

- [Narrator] With
American bootleggers

cutting corners to
illegally produce liquor,

foreign companies
became renowned

for their authentic
taste and high quality.

And now, the US market

is overrun with
international products.

- Scotch whiskey
and Canadian whiskey

both are very different

and lighter bodied
than American whiskey.

They were swooping in and
really taught Americans

to appreciate this
more flavorful,

more experiential spirits.

- [Narrator] And now, American
distillers are rushing

to stop the onslaught of
international liquors.

In Kentucky,

a 92-year-old whiskey distillery
is desperate to rebuild.

- TW Samuels was a distiller
in Deatsville, Kentucky

that has this rich legacy
in American history.

- Robert Samuels originally
hailed from Pennsylvania

and served in George
Washington's continental army,

making whiskey that he shared
with his comrades-in-arms.

After he mustered
out after the war,

he moved himself and
his family, along with

ther 60 gallon copper
still to central Kentucky.

- He has a child,
Taylor William,

and he teaches TW how to distill

and they start a distillery.

They start TW Samuels.

Then, the distillery gets to
passed down for generations.

- [Narrator] Now, after
the 13 lifeless years

of prohibition, TW
Samuels' descendants,

father and son, Leslie and Bill,

are determined to revive
the family business.

But the deck is
stacked against them.

- Bill being the fourth
generation in a family business,

he wanted to preserve
the family legacy,

but it takes time to
rebuild a distillery,

to put the equipment
back together.

Then, you have to have time
for the whiskey to age.

So, really, the
world was conspiring

against the Samuels family
at this particular moment.

- [Narrator] Not only are they
years behind the competition,

but at the same time, the
spirit TW Samuels makes

is considered a substandard
form of American whiskey.

- Bourbon is seen as a low rent,

real tough drink

that's only for heavy-duty
drinkers and for getting drunk.

- To be bourbon,

it must be made in the
United States of America.

It must come from
a fermented mash.

It can have wheat,
it can have oats,

it can have rye,
it can have barley,

but it must always be 51% corn.

Traditionally, bourbon was
made with corn and rye.

- So, rye has a special
peppery, fiery kick,

which is not an easy sell

when you're competing
with smoother whiskeys

coming from Canada,
Ireland, and Scotland.

- Now, the consumer taste
for bourbon is fading.

But Bill Samuels was someone
who loved making whiskey

and his father raised
him, mentored him,

as a distiller and in business.

And he just wanted
to make TW Samuels

one of the best in
the spirits industry.

- Did you think about my idea?

- Bill Samuels knew that
there was a shift in flavor

in American drinking culture,

and he wanted to make
a palatable product,

which is definitely an
extraordinary challenge.

- Americans are thirsty.

They'll drink
whatever we give them.

- We are going to get crushed.

- Hmm.
(tense music)

- Bill Samuels wanted to make
a new smoother-tasting bourbon

for a new generation
of drinkers,

but his father, Leslie,
is a traditionalist.

He wanted to make
whiskey the same way

they'd always done it using
the same family recipe.

- [Narrator] Bill
Samuels' ambition

to make his whiskey
the best in the country

will almost single handedly
save American whiskey

from being overtaken
by an overseas surge,

pushing it to become the
nearly $19 billion business

it is today, with over
800 whiskey brands

that almost a
quarter of Americans

consume at least once a week.

(suspenseful music)

But for now,

his father is committed to
starting up their stills

with the family's
170-year-old recipe.

As whiskey producers rush
to restart their businesses,

in Connecticut, another
former whiskey supplier

is trying to pick up the pieces
in a post-prohibition world.

In the 1890s, GF
Heublein found success

selling the first pre-mixed
and bottled whiskey cocktails.

- They were a pioneer of
ready-to-drink cocktails

as we call 'em today,

decades before they
became a big thing.

- [Narrator] During
the 19th century,

doctors prescribed
alcohol-based extracts

of plants and roots
known as Bitters,

for everything from
indigestion to jaundice.

- So, from Bitters

comes the idea that you
could flavor alcohol.

- You find in the
later 19th century

the first mention
of the word cocktail

in a New York newspaper,

and they mention it as
being made from spirits,

sugar, water, and bitters.

- [Narrator] While
cocktails don't become

the national obsession
they are today,

GF Heublein produced
bottled whiskey cocktails

like the Manhattan
up until prohibition.

- When prohibition comes along,

Heublein begins buying smaller
brands in the food space.

And in fact, one of the
brands is A1 Steak Sauce.

Yes, that A1 Steak Sauce.

- [Narrator] While prohibition

destroyed many
alcohol producers,

Heublein survived off
of their A1 sales alone.

- They would eventually go on

to invest in a style
of mustard from France,

a company called Grey-Poupon.

But then, Gilbert
Heublein passes

and his grandson, John
Martin, takes the reigns.

- John Martin is this great
character born in England,

educated at Oxford,
and he loves the hunt.

- He was a big risk-taker, but
also understood business.

He understood that
A1 Steak Sauce

may have carried them
through prohibition,

but that might not be
enough to keep them afloat.

- [Narrator] Now, under pressure
from his board of directors,

the rookie leader
will need to somehow

restore the company's once
lucrative liquor business.

- In the late 1800s,

they had an American
club cocktail

that was made with whiskey,

but post-prohibition,

they found it extremely
difficult due to low supply

and fewer distillers

to find the whiskey they
needed for their cocktail.

- [Narrator] But just as Martin

is attempting to get back
into the whiskey game,

a few towns away,
another entrepreneur

is about to stumble
upon an unknown spirit

that has the potential

to take down American
whiskey for good.

(suspenseful music)

- [Narrator] In 1934, Heublein
president, John Martin,

is desperate to get his company
back in the whiskey business,

but American alcohol
is being overrun

by an invasion of
foreign liquor companies,

threatening the once dominant
American whiskey industry.

And just 50 miles away from him,

a once penniless immigrant
is about to make a gamble

that will be another
blow to whiskey.

- So, Rudolph Kunett is born
in what was part of Russia then

is now part of Ukraine,
comes to the US.

- Through hard work,

he eventually joins
Helena Rubinstein

and becomes general manager

of their whole
cosmetics enterprise.

- But he still wants
more. He craves more.

He sees what the
American dream can be

and he starts to think now
that prohibition is over,

he sees an opportunity.

He says, you know what?

This is the time to get involved
in the alcohol business.

- [Narrator] One day,

Kunett finds an interesting
business for sale.

It's one that produces
a little known liquor

from his homeland called vodka.

- At the time, vodka in the US

is really the way
Haggis is today.

Some people have heard about it,

very few people have tried it,

maybe with immigrant
communities.

It's not very common at all.

He stumbles upon
this newspaper ad,

advertising that this
guy is selling the recipe

to his father's vodka,

and it's a name that
Rudolph knows well.

He drank that vodka growing up

and it's just pure chance
that he happens to see this.

- [Narrator] It's a recipe

that will one day
popularize vodka in America,

pushing it to become
the best-selling

premium spirit in the world.

Smirnoff Vodka will
spawn over 30 varieties,

selling six bottles every second

and create an empire
worth over $3 billion.

But in 1930s America, vodka
is almost completely unknown.

- No one in the US is really
clamoring for this product,

so he's taking a big risk.

He's convinced that Americans
are gonna love vodka.

- [Narrator] The Smirnoff name

is famous in Russia
with a rich history.

- Smirnoff was the
drink of the masses

and was enjoyed by
the Russian nobility.

It became official vodka of
the royal family in Russia.

- [Narrator] 15 years earlier,

Vladimir Smirnov was one of
the richest men in Russia.

- Then, the Bolshevik Revolution
happens in Russia about 1918,

and private industry
is outlawed.

- [Narrator] Smirnov
is subsequently jailed

and his company seized.

- He's brought in front
of the firing squad,

and then there is a
raid on the prison

and he escapes in
the confusion, flees

all throughout the world
and ends up in Paris.

- He has almost nothing

but his family name
and his father's recipe

for charcoal distilled vodka.

And then, he places
an ad in America,

and that ad is seen
by Rudolph Kunett.

- [Narrator] Now, Kunett
is betting everything

he has on the Russian spirit,

buying the US rights
to Smirnoff for $2,700

or $60,000 in today's money.

- Thank you.

- I think he feels
like I would feel

if I went to another country

and I could buy the Cadillac
brand name for pittance.

- [Narrator] In March of 1934,

Kunett opens America's
first vodka factory

in Bethel, Connecticut,

making Smirnoff in
the exact same way

as the original Russian recipe.

- So, vodka is made with
grains or other materials

and it's triple distilled and
filtered through charcoal.

- What set Smirnoff apart
was they'd make the charcoal

from white birch trees and then
they would filter the vodka

through it to get a very
clean, very neutral taste.

- [Narrator] But
he soon finds out

turning skeptical Americans

onto this Russian staple
is proving impossible.

- He's taking a big risk,

because so few people
have had vodka,

so he's investing to import

a lot of the equipment
from overseas,

because it doesn't exist locally
and it is not going well.

- But as Kunett is
struggling to get vodka

in America off the
ground, 50 miles away,

John Martin sees a major threat

to the whiskey business
from the Russian spirit.

- Smirnoff came
across their plate

and he knew that
this is a moment

when people are just
coming out of prohibition.

Their tastes have changed.

(pensive music)

- [Associate] It's got no taste.

(dramatic music)

- John Martin was this guy

that while he had
his foot in whiskey,

he saw opportunity in the places

where nobody was
paying attention.

- I think Martin realizes the
potential of vodka in America.

He starts thinking, what
are we gonna do about this?

How are we gonna respond?

- [Narrator] Back in Bethel,
in his first year of business,

Kunett sells just 1,200
cases of Smirnoff,

bringing in only $25,000.

And now, unable to
even turn a profit,

Kunett instead looks
for a way to cash out.

- The story of American vodka
could have been like sake

or any number of drinks

that are still not a major
part of the American bar

and the American
drinking landscape,

but it does become
a household name.

Thanks in part to John Martin.

- Mr. Martin.

(soft upbeat music)

- So, Rudolph Kunett

approaches none other than
John G. Martin of Heublein,

offers to sell him Smirnoff,
lock, stock, and barrel.

- [Narrator] By
offering Kunett a job

as head of Heublein's
advertising and $50,000,

Martin secures the
rights to Smirnoff,

a company which today is
worth over $3 billion.

And now, instead of rebuilding
Heublein's whiskey business,

John Martin will
leave whiskey behind

to try to introduce
vodka to the nation.

- [Narrator] In 1939, John
Martin goes out on a limb

to buy an unknown brand

of an unknown liquor
called Smirnoff Vodka.

- At this time,

vodka represents less than
1% of liquor sales in the US.

It is still almost non-existent
as a beverage category.

- No one really
appreciated the smell.

And to be fair,
vodka isn't something

that one normally sniffs

and enjoys the bouquet of like
a bourbon or a glass of wine.

- [Narrator] Martin
knows that Americans

won't sip vodka like they
do a whiskey or brandy.

So, he looks for a new way
to pitch it to consumers.

(tense music)

- You can see with vodka,

you just add anything to it

and get it to taste
like whatever you want.

Because vodka, it doesn't
taste like anything.

- [Narrator] Martin
believed Smirnoff Vodka

can find success as
a mixer in cocktails.

- Because his business
was bottled cocktails,

he was familiar with the
opportunity of cocktails.

- Before prohibition, cocktails
were mostly drunken tavern,

but in the 1920s
due to prohibition

moving alcohol
establishments underground,

cocktails are associated
with rebellious behavior.

- [Narrator] During prohibition,

cocktails became a way
to mask the harsh taste

of bootlegged alcohol, leading
to a surge in popularity

for a colorless liquor that
originated in Britain, gin.

- One thing thing people don't
realize is that essentially,

vodka and gin are more
or less the same spirit,

minus that incredible pungent
juniper note you get with gin.

- [Narrator] As drinks like
the gin martini and the gimlet

help make gin an
increasingly popular choice

in bars and homes
across America,

Martin believes vodka

can have even more success
as a cocktail mixer.

- Martin needs to choose
his cocktail very carefully.

He needs to find something
that vodka can really own,

that's gonna show you that
great tasteless aspect of vodka.

So, a drink that
has its own flavor,

but that can get
that extra vodka hit.

- [Narrator] But in 1941, just
as Martin begins his search,

(bomb exploding)

America's entry into
the second World War

stops him in his tracks.

- Many distillers
had a very hard time

recovering from prohibition,

and then World War II broke out

and that really
hobbled the industry.

- America was
rationing commodities

that were needed at the warfront

and grains were one
of those commodities.

And that put a strain on the
American spirits industries.

- [Narrator] On top
of strict controls

on their primary ingredient,

distillers wishing
to remain open

are forced to
convert their stills

to produce a nearly 100%,

or 200 proof product
called industrial alcohol.

- It was used in weapons,

it was used to produce
rubber for tires,

and it was used in antifreeze.

Not to mention all
the medical uses.

- [Narrator] In Kentucky,

Bill Samuels still believes
that a new recipe for bourbon

can save the American
whiskey industry,

but his business also
grinds to a halt.

- They could make
industrial alcohol

if they wanted to
make any money,

but then it was very
costly to do that.

So, they're probably
white-knuckling it.

They're like, are
we gonna make it?

- [Narrator] And now,
the business is rocked

by another blow,
as Bill Samuels

is going to have to navigate
the industry pitfalls

without his father.

- Leslie dies and that
leaves Bill Samuels

really on his own.

He's very young and they have
to shut down the distillery.

That really crushed
the opportunity

to try to call the shots.

But what could Bill do? He
didn't have enough money.

(Bill sighs)
- Let's do it.

(tense music)

- [Narrator] In 1943,
just one year shy

of the company's
100th anniversary,

TW Samuels is sold to a
New York conglomerate.

And so too are the rights
to the Samuels name,

ensuring Bill's dream of
creating a smoother bourbon

under his family
brand is all but gone.

- Interestingly, this
was one of those moments

that would help save bourbon,

because it forced him to think
fresh, to think different.

That doesn't happen

if he's able to continue
as old Samuels distillery.

So, that was probably the best
thing that could have happened

to Bill Samuels and
the bourbon industry,

because what would happen
next changed the game.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] With the
end of World War II,

the government stops
rationing grain supplies

and American spirit makers can
fire up their stills again.

But for John Martin,

who's recently returned
from serving in the US Army

as a Lieutenant Colonel,
Smirnoff Vodka still only

represents less than
1% of alcohol sales.

- John Martin, I think really
gets what makes vodka special.

He gets what can make
it work in the US

and that is it's a great
chameleon as a mixer.

- [Narrator] With
the war behind him,

Martin goes on a
hunt for a cocktail

that can showcase the
unique properties of vodka,

but finding the perfect
mix is not so easy.

- After a month-long
search, he's given up,

but he goes to Elliot

and he stops off at a
bar, the Cock N' Bull,

which is run by a guy
named Jack Morgan,

who's a bartender friend of his.

- It's a little too sweet.

- [Jack] Okay.

- Jack Morgan, much like
Kunett and John Martin,

wants to import a product

that's popular in another
country, ginger beer.

- [Jack] All right,
I got plenty of this.

(box thuds)

- He wants to bring it to the US

and it certainly hasn't been
the glowing success he thought.

The story is, they take
these two products,

neither of which is
doing well on their own,

ginger beer, vodka,
they put 'em together,

they add some lime juice,
they throw it in a copper mug.

(tense music)

- I think we might
have something there.

- And the Moscow mule is born.

John Martin was
asked years later,

where did you get
the name Moscow mule?

He said, "I don't know. We
had been drinking a lot,

but it probably had something
to do with it having a kick."

- [Narrator] Smirnoff
begins selling their bottles

along with a booklet,

containing a recipe
for the Moscow mule,

showcasing vodka as the
ideal mixer for cocktails.

- What vodka can do really well

is it's appealing to American
sensibilities and drinkers

who maybe don't always
want to taste alcohol.

- [Narrator] But the launch
comes at a precarious time

for a drink that
originated in Russia.

- This ideological conflict
between the United States

and the Soviet Union growing
out of the Second World War

casts a long shadow, and it
really defines people's fear

about a nuclear holocaust

and this impending
apocalyptic battle

between the United States
and the Soviet Union.

- [Narrator] The wave of
anti-Russian sentiment,

led by senators
like Joseph McCarthy,

is a potential death knell
for the Moscow mule,

for Smirnoff, and for the
future of vodka in America.

- There's suddenly protests

about the Moscow mule
in New York City,

and there's people
marching and saying,

"No more Moscow mules."

- [Narrator] As John Martin

watches the Smirnoff
name come under fire,

Bill Samuels watches his
family name fall into the hands

of its new corporate
owners, Country Distillers,

and he leaves the liquor
business altogether.

- He goes on to the Navy.

He goes on to sell timber and
he's selling pneumatic scales.

He's doing all these
things in between,

but it's probably always
weighing in the back of his mind

that he couldn't
buy his family name.

The family legend is, is
that he was moping around

and his wife Marjorie
kicked him and said,

"Get off your ass and
go make some whiskey."

(paper slams)
(intense music)

- Because bourbon is seen
as a rough, hard drink,

he's literally and figuratively
cutting ties with the past,

deciding that it's time for
a new generation of bourbon.

How does he wanna make it?
What's he want it to taste like?

- [Narrator] For
five generations,

his family has been making
their namesake bourbon

from a recipe that's
more than 170 years old,

and Bill Samuels has
the only written copy.

(intense music)

He'll now forge a new path

and concoct a whole new type
of bourbon from scratch.

(robust music)

- [Narrator] In the late 1940s,

America is grappling
with its Russian enemy

and Smirnoff's newly invented
cocktail, the Moscow mule,

is no longer welcome
in American bars.

But knowing the new drink

is a key to popularizing
vodka nationwide,

John Martin wants to fight back

and he uses a cutting
edge piece of technology.

- At that time,

Polaroid had just come
out with the Instamatic,

the very first camera
that could develop

and produce a picture
right after you took it.

He got one and went
and into this bar

and he tells the bartender,

if you try this
drink, a Moscow mule,

I'll take a picture of you

that you can take home
to your wife right now.

The bartender says,
"That's not possible.

How you gonna do that?"
(Instamatic snaps)

- [Narrator] Seeing the photos
develop right in front of them,

Martin's potential
customers are amazed.

- This, to most
people at the time,

seems like a time machine.

Martin, he takes two pictures.

He takes one to give
to the bartender,

and he keeps one for himself.

He immediately walks right
down the street to the next bar

and he says, "Hey, this
guy just did this thing.

He had this drink.

I can give you a picture of
you making the Moscow mule,

and guess what?

I can also sell you the vodka."

- [Narrator] In the 1940s,
most liquor companies

rely almost exclusively
on print advertising,

but Martin personally
visits bars

up and down the East Coast.

The stunt creates
a snowball effect,

helping spread word
of the Moscow mule,

and it becomes one
of the first-ever

viral marketing
campaigns in America.

- John Martin was a
brilliant marketer.

He knew how to press
the right buttons.

Things like that,
which now is common,

but back then, it was
sophisticated gorilla marketing.

- [Narrator] Soon, word of mouth

sparks widespread interest
in vodka and sales take off.

- Now, he's got this
new piece of technology,

which is blowing people's
minds on its own,

and he's really showing Smirnoff

to be this cutting edge product.

It's not just a vodka,

it's something that
represents the future.

- [Narrator] By 1955,
sales of Smirnoff

reach over 1 million
cases a year,

securing a 99% share of
this new vodka market.

But while vodka has
climbed out of obscurity,

Martin is hoping it
can at least catch gin.

Meanwhile, options
for American whiskey

are becoming
increasingly limited.

- The era of
independent distillers

died out during World War II.

And in the 1950s,
there were very few

independent distillers
still alive and working.

They were all owned by
like Schenley, Seagram's,

National Distillers,
Brown-Forman.

- [Narrator] But in Kentucky,

after being out of the
business for nearly a decade,

Bill Samuels invests $35,000
to start a new distillery.

- Bourbon is one
of the few liquors

that really
originated in America,

but at the time, there was no
exciting market for bourbon.

It was considered a
rough and tumble liquor,

the kind of thing like cowboys
would drink out of the bottle.

But he's got a vision
for a better bourbon,

something that people can
enjoy in a different way.

Was this an idea that
was researched? No.

This was a guy making a
decision from his gut,

because he had
lived and breathed

whiskey his entire life.

- If you are trying
to reinvent the wheel

and create a new recipe,

it's not like a one day process

where you start with
grains in the morning

and you have a glass of
whiskey in the evening.

It takes quite a long time to
develop those flavor profiles.

- [Narrator] Having
financed his own operation,

Samuels can't afford

to wait out the years
long aging process

to test out different
kinds of wheat.

- He and his wife, Margie,

decide to do something
wildly brilliant.

They decide to bake
loaves of bread.

- This allows them to
experiment with different ratios

to get strengths and
smoothness and everything.

- They can see how the
grains blend together,

see what flavor
profile is created,

especially once heat's been
added and a bit of fermentation.

(tense music)

- [Narrator] Bill
and Margie Samuels

quickly decide to take out rye,

which gives bourbon a spicy kick

and find a smoother tasting
wheat to replace it.

- Traditionally, bourbon
was made with corn

and rye and barley,

and so the use of
wheat was not normal.

- Smells good.

Let's try this.

- [Narrator] Finally, after
testing 150 loaves of bread

with a wide range of
different wheats-

(Bill chuckles)

- That is it.

- Oh!

- [Narrator] With a
new, smoother wheat,

the Samuels begin
production on their bourbon,

an aging process that
will take six years.

But meanwhile,
international whiskey brands

continue to flourish in America.

Imports of Scotch
and Irish whiskey

have almost tripled
since the end of the war.

Canadian whiskey
giant, Seagram's,

locks down a 20% share
of the US market,

becoming the largest
distillery in the world.

Bill Samuels will be competing
with them head-to-head.

(tense music)

Meanwhile, in Connecticut,

John Martin has grown vodka
into a force in the industry,

but with sales lagging behind,

he'll need to do more

to overtake the number one
clear spirit in America, gin.

- This was unquestionably
the era of the liquid lunch.

And the martini was
undoubtedly something

that this very hyper masculine,
corporate society enjoyed.

- At this point, gin
is the dominant drink

and drinkers prefer
their martinis with gin.

- [Narrator] Martin knows that
as long as the gin martini

continues its dominance,

Smirnoff will never become

the best-selling
liquor in the country.

- You see the problem.

It's easier to write about
the flavor of a gin martini.

They're fruity, they're herbal.

- [Narrator] To push
vodka as the spirit

that belongs in a martini,

Martin has a unique idea

to make the biggest marketing
splash that any liquor

has ever had by putting
it on the silver screen.

- So much of drinking is
tied up with identity.

People want to
appear a certain way,

and if I drink a certain brand,

maybe that will say
something about me.

- Well, who's in it?

- The British guy from
the John Wayne movie.

Yeah. Here.

(paper crinkles)
(tense music)

- John Martin, he
likes taking risks.

He likes going out on a limb.

- Now, his board
members and investors

thought he was
absolutely insane.

This was a series of books

turned into a movie about
a foreign main character.

It's too British and
it's also too sexual.

- [Narrator] Martin
makes an expensive deal

that puts the fate
of vodka in the hands

of a little known Scottish
actor in an unproven movie.

(tense music)

- [Narrator] In 1962,

John Martin is attempting
to overthrow gin

as the most popular
cocktail drink in America.

To do it, he
secured a risky deal

to feature Smirnoff in a movie

about a jet-setting, British
spy named James Bond.

- The very first James
Bond movie, "Dr. No",

we see a bottle
of Smirnoff Vodka.

The waiter brings
him a drink and says,

"Vodka martini, sir,

as you ordered, shaken
and not stirred."

- This upsets generations
of connoisseurs

who prefer their martinis with
gin and prefer it's stirred.

But it doesn't matter, because
once James Bond does it,

who cares what the
connoisseurs tell you?

- No one really knows how much

Martin paid for this
deal to take place,

but my gosh, did it pay off.

Because Smirnoff Vodkas

become the iconic drink of
the world's most famous spy,

or as I like to say, the
coolest guy in the room.

- So, this film goes on

to spawn a $7 billion,
25 film franchise,

cements Smirnoff as an
iconic American brand

that American men actually
didn't find foreign,

but rather wanted for
the Smirnoff martini,

shaken not stirred.

- And now, vodka
really dethroned gin

as the dominant
drink in a martini.

- [Narrator] Meanwhile,
the bourbon industry

is on life support,

now controlled by just
a few large corporations

making cheap liquor.

- The consumer taste
for bourbon is fading.

It's going to vodka.

And so, for Bill Samuels
trying to sell product,

that's a hard win.

- [Narrator] As Bill
readies the launch

of America's first premium
bourbon, his wife Margie

is trying to figure out how to
make their product stand out.

- Marjorie Samuels was
more than just support.

She was smart.

She had a degree in chemistry

from the University
of Louisville,

and she's really the person

who plants the seeds for
what bourbon is today.

You gotta remember, every
bottle looked the same.

Some old man slapped on there

with old this, old that, same
kind of dressing on the top.

They believe that the drinker
that they were trying to get

wouldn't buy something
unless it was expensive.

- [Narrator] To
signal that theirs

is a high-end artisan product,

Margie Samuels hand
dips each bottle

of their new whiskey in red
wax melted on her home fryer,

creating America's most
iconic liquor bottle.

- Also, she collected pewter

and pewter often
had a little mark

at the bottom of the vessel

that was a little bit
of an early brand.

- So, she sets about
designing a maker's seal

to create the appearance
of a higher-end product.

- [Narrator] The signature
stamp on the bottle

inspires the whiskey's name,

Maker's Mark.

And while most bourbons
cost $4 a bottle,

Maker's hits the shelf at $7,

defining its image
as a premium product.

- They sought to create
a top shelf item,

raising whiskey from something

the working man might
swill to get drunk,

to something that
the cultured American

might sip and really enjoy.

- [Narrator] While sales
get off to a slow start,

Maker's soon makes its
mark on another industry.

- In what is now considered
the golden age of travel,

you were dressed to the nines,

you got lobster in there,
you got fresh beef.

It was an elevated experience.

- This was like a
sneak marketing tool,

because you have a
captive audience.

Creating that pull on
the customer directly

through the airline was
a great opportunity.

- [Narrator] In
1961, Maker's Mark

becomes one of the
first American whiskeys

to be served on a
commercial flight.

And the smoother-tasting bourbon

captures national attention.

- This "Wall Street
Journal" reporter,

he talks about the complexity

in the flavor and
the smoothness.

Well, these moneyed "Wall
Street Journal" readers,

they follow suit.

- Their phone would
not stop ringing.

It was so bad that they
had to take a full page ad

in the "Wall Street
Journal" to say,

"Please stop calling us.

We will get to you
at some point."

- In the following years,
Maker's success ignites a boom

that puts America's whiskey

back in the hands of
American distillers.

And over the next five decades,

yearly production grows
by 50 million cases,

an increase that
more than triples

the size of the industry.

In 2022, Maker's Mark

is the number one selling
bourbon in America.

- Prohibition and
the second World War

should have destroyed
the industry.

And yet, simple,
brilliant moves

solidified bourbon in America.

- There's very few things

that really are so
singularly American

in the way that bourbon is.

- [Narrator] Today,
Bill and Margie Samuels

are credited with
saving American whiskey

and thwarting the
industry takeover

by international companies,
revolutionizing it

into the $19 billion
industry it is today.

Margie Samuels' contributions
to the recipe and the branding

push her to become
the first woman

inducted into the
Bourbon Hall of Fame.

- This is a huge established
American brand now,

and the Samuels family

is still very much
involved in running it.

- [Narrator] But while
American-made whiskey

eclipses imported ones,

vodka reigns supreme,
surpassing gin in 1976

and becoming the best-selling
spirit in America,

a title it still
holds to this day.

- Smirnoff changed the
way every American drinks.

It changed cocktails.

It is the entry point for so
many people to drink spirits.

- [Narrator] Thanks
to John Martin,

the 159-year-old Smirnoff brand

becomes the best-selling
spirit globally,

with nearly 27 million cases

sold in 130
countries every year.

And the once tasteless vodka

is now available in
nearly 40 flavors.

- I think that these spirits
become real lynchpins

to the celebratory
moments in our lives,

the moments of relaxation,
the moments of indulgence,

and it all comes back
to these risk-takers.

And me and my bar at
home salute all of you.

My liver would like to have
a word with you, however.