Old Charter Bourbon Distiller Seeks Dismissal of False Advertising Class Action

Buffalo Trace Distillery Inc. is seeking dismissal of a class action lawsuit that challenges the labeling on Old Charter bourbon.

Plaintiff Nicholas Parker brought this Old Charter bourbon class action lawsuit in November 2016, alleging defendant Buffalo Trace Distillery falsely advertised the length of time the bourbon is allowed to age.

Parker claims the label for Old Charter bourbon gives the impression that the bourbon inside has been aged for eight years. But while that particular product used to be aged that long, Parker says, the defendant now ages Old Charter for significantly less than eight years – making its labeling false and deceptive.

In Buffalo Trace’s motion for dismissal, the company now argues that the labeling for Old Charter bourbon doesn’t promise an eight-year-old bourbon at all.

According to the defendant, the label contains a freestanding numeral “8” and the phrase “matured for eight seasons.” The numeral “8” by itself does not make any representation about the bourbon’s age, the defendant argues. And under federal regulations, the term “season” can include lengths of time shorter than a full year, the company claims.

Buffalo Trace also says New York law allows the company to use the terms “8” and “eight seasons” now that specific labeling has been approved by the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the agency in charge of regulating age statements on distilled spirits.

Buffalo Trace also raises specific arguments against several of Parker’s individual claims. His request for injunctive relief also fails due to a lack of standing, as Parker has failed to allege that he is at any risk for future harm, the company argues.

In his original Old Charter bourbon class action lawsuit, Parker claimed the defendants stopped selling genuine eight-year-old bourbon under the Old Charter brand about two years ago. When the product changed, he alleges, Buffalo Trace also changed the label, removing the words “aged” and “years.”

But Parker argues the new label still creates the impression that Old Charter bourbon has been aged longer than it actually has. The new label continues to feature the numeral “8” where the old label bore references to an eight-year aging period, he claims.

Representations like these are the type of information that consumers must be able to rely on when deciding which product to buy, Parker argues. Consumers are more interested in purchasing a bourbon with a longer stated age, he says, and they are willing to pay more for it too.

By labeling Old Charter bourbon with these allegedly false and misleading representations, Parker claims, Buffalo Trace exploits that consumer interest, selling consumers a product of lower quality than what the label promises.

Parker further claims the quality of Old Charter bourbon changed for the worse in 2014, at the same time the defendants shortened its aging period. He cites various product reviews that note the drop in quality. One such review describes the current bourbon as “strikingly inferior” to the former eight-year-old product.

The plaintiff 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. 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.