Friday, August 28, 2015

New Whiskey Labels: Ghosts and Earthquakes


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

Weird of the Week:  Boone County Distilling's Eighteen 33 Bourbon was made to celebrate the heritage of early distillers in Boone County, Kentucky.  And what better way to honor early Kentucky distillers then to bottle an Indiana bourbon?  Oh, and apparently, it's made by ghosts.

Disaster of the Week: In the disaster whiskey category, we've seen snow storms, fires and tornadoes.  I suppose it was only a matter of time before the first earthquake whiskey appeared on the shelf, and here it is: Hooker's House Epicenter, whiskeys that "hung precariously" and "mico vibrated" during last year's 6.0 earthquake in Northern California. I'm taking bids on the next disaster whiskey - maybe an El Niño surviving whiskey?

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.

13 comments:

kpiz said...

Thew Hooker's House label has a few grammatical and spelling errors. Are they allowed to fix those after they receive approval?

Anonymous said...

kpiz... you can change quite a few things on the label without the need to resubmit. I assume spelling and grammatical errors fall under that blanket.

sku said...

Yes, you can make spelling corrections without seeking a new approval. Grammar is not specifically mentioned in the TTB guidance on allowable revisions, but I assume you could change it as well, so long as you don't change the meaning.

Unknown said...

I think political disasters are the new frontier for these survival products. Here's hoping that someone in Florida thought to put some bourbon in a barrel during the 2000 election dispute. "Bush redux Bourbon - drink so you don't have to relive the pain"

tanstaafl2 said...

Unless I missed it the biggest error on the Hooker House is not the odd grammar or the spelling. Apparently the state of distillation got vibrated right off the label!

So much for the TTB crackdown...

VT Mike said...

Now we need a disaster whiskey that's been through a 9.0 quake so the reviewers can compare micro and macro vibrated whiskeys.

Mark said...

...this bourbon's aging process was accelerated by being subjected to the temperature fluctuations brought on by global warming...

Anonymous said...

They left off their motto - "Hooker House, if this bottles rockin', don't bother knockin'".

Also note the 'whiskey distilled from bourbon mash'. Not a straight bourbon, so no age statement needed. I hope it's at least a couple months old.

sku said...

Anon, all whiskeys need age statements if they are less than four years old. The fact that there is no age statement means that it should be at least four years old.

Steve said...

Thanks Sku. I'll now add Hooker's House to the list of brands I'll never buy from, along with Whistle Pig and Michter's. Someone needs to release a "marketing dept. survival" bourbon: This survived having a bunch of assholes make up some bullshit to sell to you.

Carlton said...

Best idea I've heard in awhile, Steve.

Unknown said...

Sku- as I understand it, the stipulation of needing an age statement for ages under 4 is for whiskeys labeled as “straight.”

sku said...

Eric, that is not correct. See this recent post I did on whiskey age statements which cites the relevant regs. Per the regs, all whiskeys under four years of age, whether straight or not, require an age statement.