Investigation into George Dickel storage ends

Tennessee alcohol regulators investigating Diageo’s George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey have ruled that the brand has not breached state law.

Tennessee alcohol regulators have ended an investigation into whether Diageo breached state laws by ageing its George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey in Kentucky

As reported by the Associated Press, Diageo and the state had been fighting in federal court over an 80-year-old law that requires whiskey made in Tennessee to be aged in or nearby the county where it is distilled.

Diageo Americas Supply filed a lawsuit against against Keith Bell, director of the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, at a Nashville federal court in April, claiming the law violates interstate commerce laws under the US Constitution.

A subsequent investigation was launched into whether the UK drinks giant had violated the law by ageing its George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey in Kentucky.

However, George Dickel’s master distiller John Lunn testified that the whiskey adheres to the regulation since it is stored in Nashville, 60 miles south of its distillery in Tullahoma.

He said that liquor made at George Dickel’s Tennessee distillery and stored in Kentucky would be blended with other Diageo spirits, adding that about 16,000 barrels of Bourbon and wheat whiskey had been moved there over the past five years because of a warehouse shortage.

According to Lunn, Diageo officials could not find a suitable storage facility in Tennessee, so moved the whiskey to storage facilities owned and leased by Diageo in Louisville, Kentucky.

He added that if another warehouse had been built at the Tennessee site, the George Dickel distillery would have “most likely” been forced to close until work was complete.

The state of Tennessee will not be pursuing penalties against Diageo.