Old Charter Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Bourbon Not Aged 8 Years

Old Charter bourbon is falsely advertised as an eight-year aged bourbon, according to a class action lawsuit filed last week in New York federal court.

Plaintiff Nicholas Parker of New York alleges that defendants Buffalo Trace Distillery Inc., Old Charter Distillery Co. and Sazerac Company Inc. represent that Old Charter bourbon is an eight-year aged bourbon even though they stopped that practice in January 2014.

“The bourbon bearing the Old Charter name is now aged for significantly less than 8 years and is of inferior quality to its former self,” the Old Charter bourbon class action lawsuit states. “But in an attempt to upsell the newer, younger, and inferior product, Defendants’ bottle labeling still misleads consumers to believe that the bourbon is aged 8 years.”

According to the Old Charter class action lawsuit, the misrepresentation appears on the neck of the bottle, on the top of the main label and in the text portion that reads: “gently matured for eight seasons in century old brick warehouses.” Parker points to the pre-2014 bottles of Old Charter bourbon that claimed to be matured for “eight seasons” and “ten seasons” to support his claim that the term “season” clearly means “years.”

Parker claims that the labels from before and after the 2014 “switcheroo” remained unchanged, except that the defendants removed the words “aged” and “years” from the label. However, they kept touting the number eight despite the fact that the bourbon is no longer aged for eight years.

“This deception could not have occurred by mistake or happenstance,” Parker says in the Old Charter bourbon class action lawsuit. “The subtlety of the changes to the labeling make clear that Defendants intended to mislead consumers into believing that Old Charter continues to be aged for 8 years.”

The Old Charter class action lawsuit notes that several published reviews of the bourbon agree that the product quality has dropped since the defendants discontinued the practice of aging the bourbon for eight years, with one reviewer declaring that the current product is “strikingly inferior” to the age-stated product. Further, “countless” consumers have reportedly written complaints online about the defendants’ deceptive labeling.

Even though the defendants are now selling an inferior product, the price of Old Charter bourbon remains the same, the false advertising class action lawsuit alleges.

Parker says he relied on the label when he purchased a bottle of Old Charter bourbon for $22.99 in December 2015. He believed that the product had been aged for eight years, according to the aged bourbon class action lawsuit. He claims that he would not have purchased the product, or would have paid a lower price for it, had he known that the representations on the label were false and misleading.

Parker filed the Old Charter bourbon class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and all other U.S. purchasers of Old Charter bourbon. He says the defendants have violated the consumer protection laws of New York and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. He also asserts claims for unjust enrichment, breach of express warranty, fraud and negligent misrepresentation.

Parker is represented by Scott A. Bursor, Joseph I. Marchese and Yitzchak Kopel of Bursor & Fisher PA.

The Old Charter Bourbon Class Action Lawsuit is Nicholas Parker v. Buffalo Trace Distillery Inc., et al., Case No. 1:16-cv-08986, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

UPDATE: On Jan. 12, 2017, Buffalo Trace Distillery motioned to dismiss the class action, arguing that the label for Old Charter Bourbon doesn’t promise an eight-year-old product at all.

UPDATE 2: On Jan. 26, 2017, Parker voluntarily dismissed the Old Charter Bourbon false advertising class action lawsuit.

UPDATE 3: On Jan. 27, 2017, another class action lawsuit was filed alleging that Old Charter Bourbon continues to mislead consumers into thinking its bourbon is aged eight years, when it is not.