We covered several sparkling spirits products about three years ago, here, and so it may be about time for a redux. There is quite a bit of action on this front, in recent months, perhaps due to the high profile of Nuvo Sparkling Liqueur. Here is a Sparkling Vodka under the brand name Le Grand Saint. Technically, it is a distilled spirits specialty more than a “vodka” or a specific class/type. The statement of composition (“vodka infused with carbonation”) appears in gold letters near the top of the front label. Another good example is Prévu. It is unique in the sense that it is sparkling, and liqueur, and organic. It is made with vodka and Cognac, and imported by Simont Enterprises of Los Angeles, California. Prévu also happens to have a great looking website and bottle. If the product is even half as good as what is shown there, I should step away from the computer and go get several bottles.
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Personalized Labels
TTB has recently liberalized the treatment of personalized labels, such as a wine label with “Happy Birthday Bob.” No longer will it be necessary to burden your company, or the government, with paperwork to cover “Happy Birthday Steve” or Judy, Tom, etc. TTB announced this change on September 21, 2011 in TTB Guidance 2011-5. The document supersedes a policy from about a year and a half earlier; the 2010 policy required a new approval for just about every variation (such as each wedding, retirement, Bar Mitzvah, graduation, anniversary, etc.). In liberalizing the policy, TTB said:
Our 2010-1 guidance did not allow certificate holders to change the artwork or graphics on personalized labels without resubmission of the labels for approval. We have reconsidered this requirement and now permit certificate holders to make changes to the graphics or artwork on a previously approved personalized label without having to apply for a new certificate of label approval.
The above label, from Llano Estacado Winery, is an early approval under the new policy. The new policy seems due at least in part to pressure from Sen. Schumer. He mounted a vigorous campaign, on this topic, over the past summer. His August 9, 2011 press release, noting the progress, said:
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Tags: APTs, personalized, policy, procedure
Founding Fathers Beer
Part of the challenge and complexity is that label rules and trends change often. As recently as a few years ago, TTB would balk about pre-eminently famous people, such as these, on alcohol beverage labels. Founding Fathers Beer is bottled by CBC Latrobe in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. I tend to doubt that TTB would allow a President Obama label, even today (except maybe as a caricature), but George Bush, Bill Clinton and the prior Presidents may well be fair game now or soon.
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Make Your Own Spirits
It’s clearly okay to go home, add some tomato juice to your vodka, and call it a bloody mary. And it’s almost certainly a bad idea to go home and fire up your small pot still, to make just a little spirits. Somewhere in the middle, we now have “High Proof Micro-Batch Distilled Neutral Spirit Designed for Infusing.” It comes in a 375 ml. bottle, at 160 proof. It is made by The Northern Maine Distilling Company, of Houlton, Maine. The first related approval seems to go back about one year. It mentions that the vodka is designed for “infusions, extractions, mixology, and culinary applications.” The information-packed website explains:
160 Proof? Yikes! Don’t freak over the proof! The high concentration of alcohol makes Twenty 2 HPS perfect for infusing fruits, vegetables, meats, or dairy into vibrant liqueurs or flavored vodkas. Think of the 160 Proof like a very sharp knife in your kitchen. If you handle the knife with respect, it can perform amazing tasks. Same with the High Proof Spirit. It’s “sharp blade” creates infusions in hours, not weeks.
We think Northern’s COLA is interesting because we don’t know of too many other products designed for this manner of use. Also, the label underscores that TTB has no problem with...
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Cougars on Facebook
Clos Lachance has two fairly new wines. CougarJuice and MommyJuice. In the matter of lusty cougars, Peyton Imports was fairly early, with the Urban Cougar. Perhaps she is real, what with this site exhorting over a million members to: “Join CougarLife.com and meet great young guys before they’re snatched up.” Foreshadowing that this theme may be over-ripe, or ripe for a trademark lawsuit, Cougar Juice Vodka slinked into the bar a few months ago. The MommyJuice label also happens to mention Facebook on the back label, prompting TTB to assert that “Information on Facebook and/or Twitter must be in compliance with all labeling and advertising regulations.”
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Sen. Schumer Says Labels Take Too Long
Sen. Charles Schumer spoke at a Finger Lakes winery late last week and said many wine labels take too long to get approved. He was especially concerned about labels submitted to TTB by New York’s more than 300 wineries. MPNnow.com reported:
the delays — sometimes up to three months — result in wineries not being able to market their wines. The Washington, D.C., agency’s staff has been shaved by budget cutbacks over the last decade while the tide of label-approval applications from wineries nationwide almost doubled from 69,000 in 1999 to 132,500 in 2010, said spokesman Tom Hogue. “And that doesn’t take into account any of the time going back and forth with applicants to make sure labels they’ve submitted actually meet the legal requirements,” Hogue said.
John Martini, co-owner of Anthony Road Wine Co. said:
label approval used to take a week. One label he submitted online May 12 was approved June 15, but he said he has heard horror stories of approvals taking 75 to 90 days. He said new wineries often have long delays because their labels don’t meet the specifics of the label law, which was approved after Prohibition ended. However, he said, “Every winery has a goofy TTB label story.”
The Senator’s press release, and letter to TTB, are