Lawsuit accuses Maker’s Mark of false advertising

 Maker's Mark - a collectors edition?

Maker’s Mark – a collectors edition?

Ridiculous, and also truthy. What exactly does “homemade” mean in the context of a corporate beverage manufacturer? Is Beam Suntory expected to grind the grain with a team of oxen? What about making the bottles? Are they supposed to be hand-blown by crusty old dudes wearing overalls? Are there Revenue Agents a’coming through the piney woods?

Two California consumers sued one of Kentucky’s best-known distilleries, saying Maker’s Mark tries to spike demand and sticker prices by falsely promoting its bourbon as being handmade. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Diego, accused the distillery of deceptive advertising and business practices with its “handmade” promotion on the labels of its bottles, known for their distinctive red-wax seal. The potential class-action suit claims damages exceed $5 million.

A spokesman for Beam Suntory Inc., the parent of Maker’s, said the suit was meritless and the company will fight it. The suit was brought by Safora Nowrouzi and Travis Williams, who purchased Maker’s Mark bourbon last month.

“Defendant promotes its whisky as being ‘handmade’ when in fact defendant’s whisky is manufactured using mechanized and/or automated processes, which involves little to no human supervision, assistance or involvement,” the suit said.

(click here to continue reading Lawsuit accuses Maker’s Mark of false advertising – Bowling Green Daily News: State News.)

I have to laugh at the amount of money though, $5,000,000 is a lot of anguish over one’s cocktail. Like all class action suits, the lawyers are the real money makers.

The Good Stuff
The Good Stuff – Templeton Rye (not actually made in Iowa).

and this aside should be noted:

Executives at Templeton Rye said earlier this year they will change labels on bottles of their whiskey to clarify that the beverage is distilled in Indiana, not Iowa.

Also, obligatory YouTube clip of Bill Murray’s Suntory Time ad from Lost in Translation

Buffalo Trace Bourbon – cocktail with muddled mint, orange bitters, Bonal Gentiane Quina was uploaded to Flickr

Not sure exactly to call this, close to a Manhattan, but not quite. Mainly due to the muddled mint, and because I used more bourbon than a Manhattan would call for.

embiggen by clicking
http://flic.kr/p/kgudRr

I took Buffalo Trace Bourbon – cocktail with muddled mint, orange bitters, Bonal Gentiane Quina on February 19, 2014 at 07:24PM

and processed it in my digital darkroom on February 20, 2014 at 01:30AM

Republished at Bourbon: the Exclusive Whiskey of the United States

Bulleit Bourbon Frontier whiskey

My photo was used to illustrate this post

Bourbon is a uniquely American distillation of whiskey named after the region of Kentucky that perfected the process. Photo by Swanksalot (flickr).
Bourbon is a subtype of whiskey. For whiskey to be bourbon whiskey, it must be distilled from a grain base of at least 51% corn. More importantly, it must also be made in the United States.

click here to view:
Bourbon: the Exclusive Whiskey of the United States

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