If the US Government is warming up to North Korea, how much longer can it be until Cuban Rum is back? TTB has started to allow a small number of products from North Korea, and the news a few days ago is that this is part of a broader US-North Korea cooperation. Does anyone find the D in DPR a tad misleading? A good trend or bad?
We’ll go way out on a limb and foolishly boldly predict that Cuban Rum will be back in the US (legally) within two years, after an almost 50-year absence. The story is documented in this new book: “Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause.”
Search Results for: ttb
Chardonnay with Eggs and a Bit of Fish Protein
If the above sounds grotesque, you may need to get used to it. Egg whites, fish protein and milk are commonly used in alcohol beverages. New allergen rules may require much more frequent disclosure, on many more labels in the near future. TTB’s qualification says “The disclosure of allergens used in this product is voluntary, pending final rulemaking (See Notice No. 62, 71 FR 42329).”
Obama Beer
TTB is highly unlikely to approve John McCain beer anytime soon. Not because he can’t win. But because TTB is reluctant to approve labels referring to Presidents of the United States. Despite this, many companies come very close to this line. Above is Obama Ale. Here is an Illinois wine celebrating the debate between Lincoln and Douglas. And some might see our current President here.
No Shortage of Sins
Wine and brandy don’t seem especially sinful to us. But that apparently doesn’t stop lots of companies from portraying these products as evil or sinful. TTB approves about 100,000 alcohol beverage products per year, year in and year out, and a large percentage of these come equipped with references to sin, the devil, skulls and crossbones, and illegality. The Cognac above gets right to the point, branding itself illegal. And here is the original sin (apple wine).
Absinthe; No Longer Banned in the US
- A collection of recent TTB label approvals, for absinthe
- swissinfo.ch explains the recent US changes; article by Marie-Christine Bonzom.
- TTB sets forth position on absinthe.
- Label approval for Kubler Absinthe. This is the first authentic Swiss Absinthe allowed in the US in more than 95 years; it is from the birthplace of absinthe (Val-de-Travers, Switzerland), and it was the first authentic absinthe (with Artemisia Absinthium, fennel, anise, and thujone) to obtain TTB formula approval.
- Reuters and The Washington Post explain the recent changes.
Absinthe is Flowing Again (Legally!)
Absinthe is Flowing Again (Legally!)
In mid-2007, TTB began allowing absinthe to flow again, after absinthe had been banned in much of the world for almost 100 years. First there was a trickle of absinthe back into the US (Kubler and Lucid) and then there was a stream (with about six brands allowed as of one year later).
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The Virtual Absinthe Museum explains what happened, and the role we are proud to have played in this matter from 2003-2008. (Archive of this now-defunct link: www.oxygenee.com/absinthe-america/legalization.html.)
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TTB sets forth position on absinthe.
- Reuters and The Washington Post explain the recent changes.
- Two great sources for the latest news on absinthe: The Wormwood Society, Fee Verte.
Let us know if you hear of other brands approved for US sale, or on the way. It will be fun to watch and see whether the stream grows into a river, or dries up over the next hundred years.
Absinthe, a collection of TTB label approvals
(Date of first formula approval; date of first label approval)
- Kubler, Superieure
(Formula 3/2004; Label 5/2007) - St. George, Verte
(Formula 6/2007; Label 12/2007) - Lucid, Superieure
(Formula 10/2006; Label 3/2007) - Grande Absente, Originale
(Formula 11/2007; Label 2/2008) - Le Tourment Vert, Francaise
(Formula 8/2007; Label 1/2008) - La Fee, Parisienne
(Formula 1/2008; Label 3/2008) - Mythe, Traditional
(Formula 10/2007; Label 2/2008) - Sirène, Verte and Sirène, Blanche
(Same formula, both products; no date specified); Labels 4/2008) - Libertine, Superieure
(Formula 8/2007; Label 2/2008) - Leopold Bros., Verte
(Formula: no date specified; Label 5/2008) - Mata Hari, Bohemian
(Formula 3/2008; Label 4/2008) - La Clandestine, Superieure
(Formula 2/2008; Label 6/2008) - Van Gogh, Klasiek
(Formula 3/2008; Label 6/2008) - Artemisia, Superior Verte
(Formula: no date specified; Label 5/2008) - Trillium, no fanciful name specified
(Formula: no date specified; Label 6/2008) - La Muse Verte, Traditionelle
(Formula 3/2008; Label 5/2008) - Marteau, de la Belle Epoque
(Formula: no date specified; Label 7/2008) - Mansinthe, by Marilyn Manson
(Formula 6/2008; Label 8/2008) - Emile Pernot, Vieux Pontarlier
(Formula 6/2008; Label 8/2008) - Obsello, Verte
(Formula 5/2008; Label 7/2008) - Duplais, Verte
(Formula 3/2008; Label 7/2008)
Updated 4/08