Age Statement on Flavored Whiskey

[HedgeBird]

I am trying to get a label approved for a flavored whiskey and its being rejected because it contains an age statement. Initially I used the wording "aged in oak barrels with whole coffee beans" and after it was rejected the first time I tried changing that to "rested in oak barrels with whole coffee beans". This was also rejected with the following additional info provided:

"RESTED IN OAK BARRELS IS AN AGE CLAIM. AGE CLAIMS ARE NOT PERMITTED ON FLAVORED WHISKEY PRODUCTS PER 27 CFR 5.40 (d). PLEASE REMOVE THIS CLAIM FROM YOUR BACK LABEL TEXT"

Here is the subsection they are referencing:

(d) Other distilled spirits. Age, maturity, or similar statements or representations as to neutral spirits (except for grain spirits as stated in paragraph © of this section), gin, liqueurs, cordials, cocktails, highballs, bitters, flavored brandy, flavored gin, flavored rum, flavored vodka, flavored whisky, and specialties are misleading and are prohibited from being stated on any label.

So my question is can anyone suggest a wording I could use that would allow me to truthfully convey to the consumer that this product has been in a used oak barrel; but at the same time not make it an age statement? Is any mention of "oak barrel" automatically a statement of age?

Here are two options I am considering for my next attempt:

"Infused in charred oak barrels with whole coffee beans"

"infused with coffee beans and charred white oak!"

[CountySeat]

This isn't that helpful but I know La Colombe in Philly barrel ages their rum (I think after the coffee is infused) but omits that from their labels. If you pull their COLA Approvals it shows "A deliciously complex fine rum hand-crafted from sugarcane and rare specialty coffees". Its possible they omitted the barrel reference due to the same hurdles. You could try: "Whiskey hand-crafted from [type of coffee], [rye or base grain], and charred white oak...." and see if they let it slide. Maybe even add a picture of a barrel with coffee bean in it to drive the point across without anything they could construe as a written age statement. If anyone knows of other coffee whiskeys, we could try pulling their labels to see what is sliding by.

[Roger]

First you have to "make whiskey" then you blend it with your beans. When you instead just put what amounts to a grain distillate into a barrel with coffee beans, it isn't whiskey. If it were me, I think I would write a formula that described the making and aging of your whiskey, then at some point you add the beans to the whiskey, and later you filter it, and bottle it. That is distinctly different than a process wherein you combine a bunch of stuff in a barrel and claim it is all whiskey.

You could try a label that says " XYZ Whiskey infused with Coffee beans". Then on the back label describe the process.

If the buyer doesn't realize that for it to be called whiskey, it has to have been stored in an oak barrel, they should probably be drinking vodka.

[daveflintstone]

If the buyer doesn't realize that for it to be called whiskey, it has to have been stored in an oak barrel, they should probably be drinking vodka.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you've described 99% of whiskey drinkers.

[HedgeBird]

First you have to "make whiskey" then you blend it with your beans.

Actually I don't need to do that, because I distilled the new make and put it into a used bourbon barrel about 6 months ago.

When you instead just put what amounts to a grain distillate into a barrel with coffee beans, it isn't whiskey.

and that is why my post is specifically about "flavored whiskey" and the labeling of such.

If it were me, I think I would write a formula that described the making and aging of your whiskey,

I have already obtained a formula for this product. I needed that before I could make the initial submission of the label as a flavored whiskey.

You could try a label that says " XYZ Whiskey infused with Coffee beans".

The TTB does not have an issue with my front label that happens to say "Black Coffee Flavored Whisky"

Then on the back label describe the process.

If you read my post again, perhaps you will notice that I am asking specifically about how to correctly describe one step of the process on my back label

If the buyer doesn't realize that for it to be called whiskey, it has to have been stored in an oak barrel, they should probably be drinking vodka.

Perhaps they should be drinking "flavored whiskey" as it does not seem like "flavored whiskey" does have to be stored in an oak barrel.

[HedgeBird]

Its possible they omitted the barrel reference due to the same hurdles. You could try: "Whiskey hand-crafted from [type of coffee], [rye or base grain], and charred white oak...." and see if they let it slide.

That makes sense they might have run into the same issue. I think I am going to try some wording along these lines.

[bluestar]

For a while, statements like "stored" or "set aside" in a barrel were being allowed on back label descriptions. It is, of course, a truthful description of how the product is made. But lately, the TTB has been disallowing these statements on any such label for the reasons you were told. They will allow certain fanciful adjectives to be included in the branding of the product, such as "Barrel Reserve".

I think we have found that the industry has once again outstripped the TTB's old descriptions, with so many craft distillers expanding the use of barrel aging onto a wider range of spirits, and forcing the TTB into an awkward situation where they must actually require us NOT to be truthful on a label to avoid the provision not to state age for flavored and specialty spirits. This is a sad state of affairs. The idea was originally I think that these flavored or specialty products likely obtained color and flavor primarily from additives, and therefore any statement of age would be misleading. Ironically, you can have a spirit that gets ALL of its flavor and color from the wood, but if outside of the categories of whiskey, rum, or brandy, would not be able to say that is how it was made.

Our most recent example: we make a honey spirit. It is not rum, because it is not cane. It is not brandy, because mead is not fruit wine. So it is a specialty. We barrel age some of it. We can not say it is aged, that it has been placed in a barrel, etc. The result is a brown spirit with no added coloring, that we can not tell the consumer where that color came from: we can not be truthful in the description or advertising. Not the intention of the law, I suspect.

[Roger]

Take a look at my Snow Wheat Maple Whiskey COLA as an example. If its along the general lines of what you are looking for, although with coffee, then go back and read what I suggested. Otherwise I'm out of suggestions.