Wow! TTB’s list of Allowable Revisions to Approved Labels (ARTAL) is getting powerful. It is getting long and complicated — but it also provides a lot of good opportunities to avoid or cause a problem.

On September 29, 2014 TTB announced about six new changes to the ARTAL list. They are:

1. Change promotional sponsorship-themed material (festivals and sports references)
2. Change ratings (#1 vodka according to Vodka Quarterly)
3. Delete organic references
4. Change the spelling on sulfites
5. Change information about the amount produced
6. Add serving suggestions (shake well)

Also, TTB provided a reminder that it’s ok to make certain small changes to labels for Argentinian wine as here. The first part of “Your New Friend, ARTAL, Part 1” is below. The rest of Part 1 is here. And here is the whole list (less Argentina) in one place.

Maybe it will help if TTB makes the ARTAL list much more visible, for example, like the words in red, on this hypothetical form.

In early July TTB announced a massive and important change to the COLA system. TTB greatly expanded the “Allowable Revisions to Approved Labels” (hereinafter “ARTAL,” as on page 3 of the new 4-page COLA form). TTB began laying the groundwork for big “streamlining” changes in early...

Tito’s vodka was doing great for the past 15 years, then hit a gigantic speedbump this week in the form of a class action lawsuit.

Tito’s therefore provides a good example of when an approval is not really an approval. Tito Beveridge has more than 30 TTB label approvals for his vodka from 1997 to 2013 (as in the above image, from LabelVision). They may not do him much good in this lawsuit, even though, in years past, most would assume the federal approval would be dispositive. It’s a good thing most TTB approvals are not paper anymore because these would “not be worth the paper they are printed on.”

Summary:  in Hofmann v. Fifth Dimension, Inc., Gary Hofmann (a consumer) sued Tito’s vodka on behalf of all Tito’s customers in California, claiming that the company misleads people about whether the product is “handmade.” The lawsuit was filed September 15, 2014 in San Diego county court. The federal government reviewed and approved the Tito’s labels, but has no definition for the term at issue.

The classic case of an approval that is not really an approval would be your garden variety Napa Valley Chardonnay, Vintage 2010. TTB will take almost every one of those...

Latrobe did a “brilliant” job here, picking up on a lot of important trends.

Let’s see how many instructive legal issues this one label raises. Extra points for anyone who can raise additional issues. No more ALS challenges, please.

1. It is beer but it more or less screams spirits.
2. In a variety of ways. (For example, the brand name refers to moonshine paraphernalia, as Tickle’s sidekick helpfully explains.*)
3. Within the rules, probably.
4. Even though spirits terms are not allowed on beer labels.
5. Even though this product contains and purports to contain absolutely no whiskey of any sort.
6. It mentions George Dickel at least three times.
7. It mentions Rye but not Rye Whiskey. This is very smart in that, though they mean about the same thing to most people, rye is just a grain, and it’s not necessarily whiskey without the second word attached. Like Bourbon is not sufficient on even a Bourbon Whiskey label, without the second word.
8. Latrobe used a formula, notwithstanding that TTB has eased way up on formula requirements.
9. The label raises a lot of good trademark issues, tied up with Latrobe’s use of another company’s highly protected brand name.
10. TTB seems to be allowing the term “refreshing” these days, on a pretty liberal basis, even though this policy...

It took me a long time (perhaps too long) to realize that — craft is (largely) about MADE IN USA. With an emphasis on made. And less emphasis on USA.

This dawned on me when looking at gleaming copper, at Vendome in Louisville, with welders crawling around on the concrete floor — making stuff. It has become rare to have any real connection to people making stuff nearby, and quite apparently, we have a craving to get back to our roots, much as we flock to the beach every summer. If you have any doubt, take a look at the copper porn, arrayed here.

In trying to get to the essence of what is craft — and distill it down — so far I have the above concepts. I added MADE IN USA to this list just today. Please comment away to let me know what the concept really means or should mean.