Old Charter Class Action Says Bourbon is Deceptively Mislabeled

A class action filed against Old Charter Distilling Company, Buffalo Trace Distillery Inc., and Sazerac Company Inc., alleges that the companies deceive consumers into thinking Old Charter bourbon is aged eight years when, in fact, it is not.

“Old Charter used to be aged for 8 years, but Defendants stopped that practice in approximately January 2014,” the complaint states. “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.”

In order to hide this change, the class action states that Old Charter removed the “aged” and “years” from the bottle label, but kept the large, discolored number “8.” The complaint contains pictures showing the old and new labels side by side, which show that they have the same prominent number “8” on the label. This number is “now meaningless,” the complaint argues, and can only act to mislead unsuspecting customers.

In addition, the Old Charter bourbon class action lawsuit contends that the label is misleading in another way, as well. The label proclaims that the bourbon is “gently matured for eight seasons in century old brick warehouses,” which has not changed from the previous label, even though it is not aged as long. The complaint argues that the word “seasons” must mean “years,” because the more expensive 10-year Old Charter bourbon says that it is aged for “ten seasons.”

“This misrepresentation could not have occurred by accident or happenstance,” claims the class action, because of the “subtlety” of the “switcheroo” on the label.

The Old Charter class action is brought by plaintiffs Stephen Penrose, James Thomas, Joseph Guardino, and Daniel Pope. All four state that they purchased bottles of the new Old Charter “8” bourbon relying on the label and thinking it was aged eight years. The four plaintiffs claim that they would not have purchased Old Charter, or would have only paid substantially less for it, had they known the truth.

The complaint cites numerous complaints from consumers saying how deceptive the labeling is. One online complaint states that Old Charter’s marketing is “very deceptive in fact . . . It’s still hogwash though and deceptive . . . because what you’re really doing is selling younger whisky while pretending it’s older (emphasis added).” In addition, the class action states that published reviews of the new bourbon “agree that quality has significantly dropped” even though the price of the bourbon has stayed the same.

This class action follows a previous lawsuit that was voluntarily dismissed in January of this year. That previous action, filed by a different plaintiff but the same law firm, alleged violations of New York consumer protection statutes and federal warranty law.

This updated lawsuit requests certification of a Class of all U.S. consumers who purchased Old Charter bourbon since Jan. 1, 2015. The complaint also asks for subclasses of residents of Missouri, Florida, New York, and South Carolina. The complaint alleges violations of the consumer protection laws of those states, as well as breach of express warranty. The class action seeks restitution and punitive damages, as well as an injunction stopping the defendants from their deceptive labeling.

The plaintiffs are represented by Yitzchak Kopel of Bursor & Fisher P.A.

The Old Charter Bourbon Class Action Lawsuit is Stephen Penrose, et al., v. Buffalo Trace Distillery Inc., et al., Case No. 4:17-cv-00294, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.