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Templeton Rye to clarify labels following criticism

Templeton Rye is to change its labels to clarify that the spirit is distilled in Indiana, not Templeton, Iowa, following allegations the brand may be “misleading” consumers.

Executives at Templeton Rye have said the brand will clarify its origins following claims it may be misleading consumers

According to the Global Gazette, company president Scott Bush and chairman Vern Underwood have made the decision to label their products as distilled in Indiana over claims the brand may have breached federal disclosure requirements.

“Currently there is some confusion, so all that confusion is going to be cleared up,” Underwood told Global Gazette. “If it implies that the rye whiskey is made in Templeton, then that should be changed. Anything that is misleading should be changed.”

Bush and Underwood confirmed that Templeton Rye is distilled by MGP, a large distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, using a recipe that has not been sourced from the Prohibition era, as is claimed on the brand’s label.

The liquid is then shipped to Templeton, where it is blended, bottled and shipped.

Underwood said that while the brand did not intend to deceive consumers, federal regulations would not allow the use of its Prohibition era recipe.

Templeton Rye was named by Advocacy group Consumer Class Actions as a “small-batch” whiskey brand that has been investigated by US attorneys for “falsely advertising their origin”.

“According to reports, some whiskey companies represent that they are made in small, independent distilleries when they are actually all made in the same large, generic distillery,” Consumer Class Actions said.

The Spirits Business revealed last week that the group was now urging consumers who think they may have been mislead by American whiskey brands marketed as “small-batch” to seek legal advice and potentially pursue a class action lawsuit.

Its calls follow reports such as one recently published in The Daily Beast, which claimed many “small batch” and “artisan” distillers source their liquid from a large distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

Other brands named by Consumer Class Actions as being involved in past of present investigations include Angel’s Envy Rye, Diageo’s Bulleit Rye and George Dickel Rye, Redemption Bourbon and Rye, WhistlePig Rye and bottlings from Rancho de Los Luceros Destilaría, among others.

Templeton Rye is hoping to begin construction on a distillery in its namesake town in 2015, with aged whiskey planned for release in 2020.

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