Fruit infused Whiskey

[Thatch]

We have developed a fruit infused whiskey.  We are adding the fruit to a quart jar after distillation.  Now that we have something that we would like to sell I have come up with a problem.  Is it legal?   I have search the forum for hours and found several posts that mention this technique but it is only a mention.  When I search the BAM this does not seem to be allowed.  Yet, I have seen similar products on the shelf in liquor stores with fruit sitting on the bottom of a quart jar.  We will not be adding any sugar and we intend to use somewhere around 120 proof in the products.  Any help or comments are greatly appreciated.

[JNorris]

I have done this and seen it done in other distilleries as well.  You must have a formula and have label details as to what is in the bottle.

You have to be very explicit in your method of manufacture on your formula as to what you are doing to make sure they give you an accurate qualification.

My label ended up stating 375mL of whatever spirit, and 375mL of whatever fruit.  Be aware this is a 750mL bottle, but only 375mL of taxable alcohol.

There are a number of other current COLAs available on the public registry that you can look through for reference, but just because they are approved, does not mean they are accurate.

FYI, I did not do this with whiskey.

[Thatch]

@JNorris  Thanks for the reply. 

We got our formula approved today but there are things that needs to be on the label that were not anticipated.  Once that's approved I will add more so that the next person (notice my gender neutrality) going down this path will have a better road map.

Read closely what @JNorris posted.  There are many bad examples currently in use.

[Vannessagnsw]

Off topic but I like your gender neutrality

[Thatch]

The change that we had to make to our label was the term BOTTLED AT along with ALC/VOL.  They basically give you a pass on the true proof and allow you to enter the proof prior to the infusion of the fruit.  In our case we are bottling at 120 proof and then adding the fruit to the jar.