Friday, October 24, 2014

New Whiskey Labels: Bulleit Label Changes, Kinsey Whiskey and More


This week's most interesting new labels from the federal TTB database:

Diageo's Bulleit appears to be the latest company to modify its label to reflect its sourcing. Bulleit is a sourced whiskey, but for years, the label stated that it was"Distilled, Aged and Bottled by the Bulleit Distilling Co." A new label approved this week changes that statement to "Bottled by the Bulleit Distilling Company" and "Distilled and Aged in the Bulleit Family Tradition."

The Kinsey distillery was an old Pennsylvania distillery owned by Publicker.  It appears that the brand is being revived as a sourced whiskey by Millstone Spirits in Philadelphia which cleared labels for Kinsey Rye and a seven year old Kinsey Whiskey.  No telling where they were distilled.

And in these days of bourbon hype, it's nice to see a label with some humility (and a sense of humor). Here's a new one for Lowered Expectations Bourbon, which the label touts as "good enough."

Note:  The fact that a label appears on the TTB database does not necessarily mean it will be produced.  In addition, some details on the label, such as proof, can change in the final product.


6 comments:

BMc said...

How are you able to keep posting these fakers without losing your [bleep]ing mind?

Andrew said...

Good to see that Diageo's learning from the Templeton mess and trying to clean up their act, if only slightly. I guess they're keeping their promise to become the biggest "craft" distiller in America, they know how to source whisky and spin tales with the best of them!

Anonymous said...

Does "Distilled and Aged in the Bulleit Family Tradition" mean that generations of the Bulleit family sat on their cans while someone else distilled and aged their bourbon and that they have a century of bottling experience?

Methinks the label could be a bit more specific.

sku said...

"Distilled and Aged in the Bulleit Family Tradition" means nothing at all.

John Burlowski said...

The address for the Bulleit Distilling Co. is a PO Box in Lawerenceburg, IN. Until recently Bulleit was made by Four Roses in Lawerenceburg, IN. So how is the “old” label any different than the ones used by other major distilleries for their various brands (eg, Blanton Distilling Co, Elijah Craig Distillery, etc)?

sku said...

John, the issue isn't the location, it's the term "distilled by." Per the TTB regs, the term "distilled by" is to be used by or the distiller. Bulleit is not the distiller so should not have been using "distilled by." Blanton's and Elijah Craig may be DBAs, but they actually are distilled by the company that is bottling it.

Also, the old Bulleit label was Lawrenceburg, KY, not IN.