brandy

Last week I heard that my colleague, Marshall Fawley, was in the newspaper, in Hawaii. I was concerned. I had a vision of a surfing or beach mishap. Alas, no. Marshall was in the Aloha State Daily as here, relating to his legal work seeking to set appropriate standards for ‘ōkolehao.

‘ōkolehao is, according to the article, “the Hawaiian spirit distilled from ki plant roots.” It “was likely introduced and refined in the years and decades following 1778, when British sailors introduced the technology of distillation with iron implements to Native Hawaiians.”

Hawai‘i has either been embarrassed or proud of ‘ōkolehao. It is illegal and disgraceful or legal and venerated. It is a mark of sin or a source of pride.

This beverage is noteworthy for a variety of reasons, not least that it seems to have been the subject of a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court case.

In the early years of statehood, Hawai‘i attempted to encourage the development of locally based alcoholic beverages, enacting a measure (Act 26, SLH 1960) that exempted ‘ōkolehao and pineapple wine from the state excise tax on wholesale liquor sales.

The measure’s constitutionality ultimately earned ‘ōkolehao some infamy at the national level. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately determined that the State’s preferential treatment of ‘ōkolehao to the...

Would anyone expect this to be a big seller in the US? In Macedonia? It’s not clear why it ought to be considered “diluted,” since it meets the 80 proof threshold required for regular brandy. For the answer, click the label.

[polldaddy poll=1475234]

We wrote about President Obama’s appearance, on a beer label, many weeks ago. So we were going to leave the above label alone. But the Hennessy label has received surprisingly little press attention, and a reader reminded us about it. The Hennessy label provides a vivid illustration of where the line is drawn, in the matter of Obama-alcohol-beverage-labeling, and how to do it right and wrong. Hennessy got it right, apparently, by avoiding any direct reference to Mr. Obama (by way of name or likeness). They went right up to the line but did not cross it. By contrast, as to the beer, Jill Jaracz wrote in to say:

Amid all the hoopla over the Presidential Inauguration, the TTB has officially nixed the idea of putting President Obama’s name and likeness on beverage labels by denying Ommegang Brewery’s application for a single-batch ale called Obamagang that they planned to release around Inauguration Day. TTB denied this label because they do not allow commercial use of someone’s name or likeness without that person’s permission. In order to comply with the law, the Cooperstown, NY-based Ommegang chose to rename their product Ale 2009, and the new approved keg label depicts that the beer was created in honor of the Inauguration. However, Ommegang’s website still flaunts the ruling...