Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Celebrates Its Whiskey Heritage November 7 - 8

From 1803 until the present day, the City of Lawrenceburg, Indiana has been home to many distilleries, thus earning it the name 'Whiskey City.'

The one distillery that remains in operation, the former Seagram's plant now known as MGP of Indiana, has been in the news recently because many non-distiller producers (NDPs) are using whiskey made there to establish fake microdistilleries. It's a reprehensible practice, which we try to expose, but MGP is blameless as they can't control what happens to the whiskey they make once it's sold. In fact, MGP is a fine company and Lawrenceburg is justifiably proud of its 211 years of whiskey history.

In addition to MGP, Proximo Spirits operates a distilled spirits bottling plant in Lawrenceburg. That facility also used to be part of Seagram's. The other major post-Prohibition distillery in Lawrenceburg was Old Quaker, owned by Schenley, which during Prohibition was owned by the notorious bootlegger, George Remus.

To celebrate it whiskey heritage, the City of Lawrenceburg, Lawrenceburg Main Street, MGP, Hollywood Casino, and the Dearborn County Visitor Center have come together to create the inaugural 'Whiskey City Festival,' to be held on Friday, Nov. 7, and Saturday, Nov. 8, at the new Lawrenceburg Event Center. Each day will feature whiskey tastings, industry experts, food, beer, cigars, music (including nationally recognized entertainment), as well as historic displays featuring the local story of the industry and its workers.

The Lawrenceburg Event Center, at 91 Walnut Street, is part of the complex that includes the Hollywood Casino and the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.

To prepare the historic displays, the organizing committee is asking current, former and retired employees of the local distilleries and bottling plants, both past and present, to share their stories and experiences of working in the industry. "Your stories are an important component in documenting and displaying on a personal level just how significantly this industry impacted our community and the people who worked within it," said Pat Krider, Lawrenceburg Main Street Director.

"If you're worried that your writing skills aren't up to par, please don’t worry, we can help with that," said Krider. "What really matters here is the story and the personal experience.”

A selection committee will review the submitted stories and the best five will be featured in The Dearborn County Register, one each week, in the weeks leading up to the Whiskey City Festival. In addition, a 'memory wall' will be featured at the event, displaying the selected stories. Winning entrants will be entered into a drawing for tickets to some of the events that will be part of the celebration.

Submit stories to the Whiskey City Festival Committee, c/o Lawrenceburg Main Street, 118 Walnut Street, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025.  For more information call 812-537-4507 or email info@thinklawrenceburg.com.

Alcoholic Beverage Industry Unites to Urge Full Funding of TTB

The alcoholic beverage industry in the United States is highly regulated. The national regulator is the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, part of the Treasury Department, which is known by the acronym 'TTB.'

The alcohol part of TTB has several responsibilities. It collects the Federal Excise Tax (FET), issues licenses to distilled spirits producers, and ensures accurate labeling of alcoholic beverages through its Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) process. Due to industry growth, especially in the micro-distillery segment, TTB has fallen down on that third part of its mission. In this space we have focused on one particular problem area, Rule 5.36(d) enforcement, which concerns state of distillation disclosure.

Recognizing that TTB is broken, the major trade organizations representing all three tiers of the beer, wine, and spirits industry (producers, wholesalers, and retailers) have formed a coalition to urge Congress to pass the full $101 million requested by the administration to fund the TTB.

In a letter sent to appropriations committee chairmen in the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, the coalition praised the successful working relationship between the beverage alcohol industry and its primary federal regulator.

In addition, the industry groups pointed out that TTB is the federal government’s third-biggest revenue generating agency behind the Internal Revenue Service, and Customs and Border Protection. It also noted that TTB officials review well over 100,000 labels and thousands of product formulas each year, as well as completing all license review and background checks.

"[TTB’s] ability to respond swiftly and properly to changes in the alcohol industry has a direct impact on jobs, consumer protection, the innovation of new products, and the collection of federal excise taxes,” the letter said. It noted that TTB’s workforce had been cut by more than 50 full-time staff members at a time when the number of companies and products in the sector has increased by more than 53 percent.

“We need a well-funded TTB to be able to process label requests quickly in order to get new products to market in this highly competitive global marketplace. We also need a well-funded TTB to prevent and guard against unscrupulous actors from entering our marketplace who otherwise could harm the public with dangerous products, which has occurred outside of the United States with counterfeit alcohol,” the letter stated.

Hal Rogers, who represents Kentucky's Fifth Congressional District, is Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Organizations that signed the letter include: American Beverage Licensees, The Beer Institute, Brewers Association, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, National Association of Beverage Importers, Inc., National Beer Wholesalers Association, The Presidents’ Forum of the Distilled Spirits Industry, Wine America, Wine Institute, and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America.

The letter itself is here.

Eating in Ohio

Cincinnati chili is one of many fine Ohio specialties.

I am a born and bred Buckeye. I haven't lived there full time since 1978 but I get back often, mostly to see family. Although I'm from Mansfield, in North Central Ohio, I've lived in Dayton, Columbus, and Oxford (near Cincinnati). My family's roots are in Cleveland (mom) and the southeastern corner of the state around Coolville (dad).

This is my personal perspective, not the result of objective research, so to other Buckeyes I may put too much emphasis on some things and miss others altogether.

We people of Ohio have named ourselves, and our most popular professional sports organization, after a tree whose nuts are poisonous to humans. Consequently, Ohio's favorite candy resembles that poisonous nut.

Throughout Ohio there are unique dishes, typically with an ethnic root, that are very popular there and virtually unknown elsewhere. Cincinnati Chili is the best example. A meat sauce of Greek origin, it is not hot and contains ingredients such as cinnamon and chocolate. The ground beef isn't browned first so it has an unusual texture. It is served over spaghetti or on hot dogs, typically finished with a huge mound of cheddar cheese. Beans are available on the side.

There are several restaurant chains that specialize in Cincinnati Chili. Empress, the original, is a shadow of its former self but Skyline and Gold Star seem to be thriving, and there are several other, newer chains. It's on the menu at many other restaurants and people make it at home. It is popular within about a 100 mile radius of Cincinnati and nowhere else.

Johnny Marzetti is a dish that originated in a long-gone Columbus restaurant called Marzetti’s. The chef and founder was Teresa Marzetti. The widely-sold salad dressings of the same name also originated there. Johnny Marzetti is a casserole of onions, mushrooms, ground beef, cheddar cheese, tomato sauce, and macaroni. My mom made it, the school cafeteria served it, and some restaurants in the state still do. It was so ubiquitous when I was growing up, I thought it was universal. I just made a batch a couple days ago.

Ohio had huge immigration from Germany, Poland, and Italy. Around me it was mostly Germans and Poles. A lot of people still eat those foods. Bucyrus has an annual bratwurst festival. To me as a kid, stuffed peppers were as common as hamburgers. Lots of those immigrants were Catholic so Friday fish fries were a big deal, just like in Wisconsin, except in Ohio (at least in Northern Ohio), the fish is usually Lake Erie perch. It wasn't available for many years when the pollution was so bad, but it is now. It is my favorite fresh water fish.

Celebrity Chef Michael Symon is arguably the second most famous chef from Cleveland. The most famous is still Chef Boyardee (originally Boiardi). Like Teresa Marzetti in Columbus, he specialized in simple red sauce Italian. She put her salad dressing in jars to take home, he did the same thing with his red sauce.

People from all over Ohio and Indiana drive to Lebanon (near Dayton) to eat at the Golden Lamb, Ohio’s oldest inn (1803). They serve a popular steak salad, fried saurkraut balls are an appetizer, and braised beef short ribs are on the ‘light bites’ menu. Their specialties are Amish fried chicken, free-range roast turkey, and braised Pennsylvania lamb shank.

One of the few times my family ever ate out for Thanksgiving was at the Golden Lamb. My brother and I were both living in the area so my parents and sisters came to us. It was marvelous.

Two foods from my hometown of Mansfield that I still enjoy are Jones Potato Chips and Leaning Tower subs. The Jones family has been making potato chips at the bottom of the Bowman Street Hill since 1945. It's a wavy-style chip, they call it 'marcelled.' Great for dipping, great by themselves. You do not want to be the Frito-Lay salesman in Mansfield.

The Leaning Tower of Pizza has been a Mansfield institution since the fifties. It has always been at the same location, in the basement of a building that is now otherwise empty. It is carry-out only but during my high school years we usually just ate in the parking lot. At first it was considered a beatnik place, then a hippie place, and it is still pretty bohemian. The pizza is good but for me it's the subs, a large Italian loaf filled with salami, bologna, mozzarella, provolone, and pizza sauce. That's the standard model but there are options. I usually add pepperoni. They're wrapped in foil and baked in the same oven as the pizza.

Bologna? Yes, bologna. We ate it at home, at school, and even restaurants. Not fried bologna, that's a Southern thing. Just bologna on white bread with American cheese and Stadium Mustard.

To the extent that Buckeyes eat differently from other people, as they do less and less (just like everyplace else), it’s usually hearty farm fare -- heavy on the beef and pork -- or something ethnic. Yes, the German, Polish and Italian influences are still very strong, but currently my favorite restaurant in Columbus is Lavash Café, a terrific Mediterranean place.

And very soon, Cleveland (Chagrin Falls, actually) will have its own honest-to-goodness, craft-made, Ohio straight bourbon whiskey, made in the copper barrel-a-day stills Vendome built for Michter's in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, 40 years ago. In making it, the Herbrucks were assisted by Dick Stoll, the final master distiller at Pennsylvania Michter's, and by members of the Beam family. Tom's Foolery has built its fine reputation on apple brandy, but its whiskeys are approaching maturity. Every drop is as authentically craft as can be.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Wherein We Mine More Facts About Widow Jane

In subsequent reading after Wednesday's post, I came across an interesting article on the web site for Blue Stone Press. That is the local newspaper for Stone Ridge, New York, which also serves the nearby town of Rosendale, where the Widow Jane Mine is located. The story, from March of 2013, tells how Daniel Prieto Preston, founder of Cacao Prieto, producer of Widow Jane Bourbon, came to fall in love with the Widow Jane Mine.

Most folks in the Blue Stone Press reading area probably already knew about the Widow Jane Mine itself. What would have been news was the bourbon whiskey from a company 95 miles to the south, in Brooklyn, named after and supposedly made using water from the mine.

As we learned on Wednesday, Cacao Prieto offers several different products under the Widow Jane brand name. Some are distilled in Red Hook, Brooklyn, according to the web site. The one featured in the Men's Journal article is not. A Cacao Prieto spokesperson confirmed to me today that it was distilled at MGP in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. According to TTB rule 5.36(d), therefore, the words 'distilled in Indiana' must appear on the product's label.

They don't.

You can read the article for yourself, but do not neglect the comment that follows it from the owner and custodian of the Widow Jane Mine on the Snyder Estate in Rosendale, the Century House Historical Society (CHHS). The comment, signed by all of the officers and directors of the not-for-profit society, states that "water was not supplied by the historical society from the Widow Jane Mine for this endeavor." Furthermore, it disclaims, "the historical society has no commercial relationship with Mr. Preston and his manufacture of Widow Jane whiskey, and CHHS does not benefit in any way from the sales of this product."

Since the main article clearly states that Preston is using water drawn from the same aquifer but on property he owns nearby, the issue here is one of personal ethics and simple marketing savvy, not law. CHHS is very obviously an under-funded labor of love kept alive by small donations from local history buffs, just like the little historical sites all of us have in our local communities. While they don't own a trademark for 'Widow Jane Mine,' the fact that anyone knows about or has any affection for the place is likely due to the preservation and interpretation efforts put forth by this tiny not-for-profit whose principal mission is to preserve and protect the historic mine, and keep it open to the public.

In marketing, the nice term for that is 'borrowed equity.' Cacao Prieto is 'borrowing' (i.e., not paying for) the good will and awareness created by CHHS, but doing it in a way that is perfectly legal, much like the bar that calls the Super Bowl the 'championship' or 'big game' in its promotions, because 'Super Bowl' is a registered trademark owned by the NFL.

In itself, Rosendale natural cement is pretty interesting stuff. Technically argillaceous limestone, it is a very effective mortar when mixed with water and was used in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, the U.S. Capitol building, and the Statue of Liberty.

'Limestone' is the key word in the bourbon connection too. Water filtered through limestone, as it is in Kentucky, Tennessee, and parts of Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, contains little or no iron. Iron is very, very bad for whiskey-making, so limestone is good. There are also minerals in the water that help it taste good and play nice with yeast.

A savvy marketer, perceiving the marketability of the name and limestone water angle, and perhaps also anticipating the very story I'm writing now, would have long ago secured CHHS's enthusiastic permission to use the name through a generous, tax deductible donation, and probably for additional consideration could have entertained customers at the mine and done any number of tie-in events, instantly converting fans of the Widow Jane Mine into devoted buyers of Widow Jane Bourbon.

Cacao Prieto did none of that.

Since the article and comment are more than a year old, I contacted the CHHS and they confirmed to me that the comment from 2013 still expresses their position.

I heard from Cacao Prieto today too. They're not happy with me nor with many of you. I could get another lively post out of their emails but I won't, because I'm actually a much nicer guy than most of you think I am. The beautiful thing about this whole TTB Rule 5.36(d) deal (and all credit to Wade Woodard who started it) is that all Widow Jane or anyone else has to do is say, "Whoops! We're sorry, we're new at this. We will immediately add 'distilled in Indiana' to every label on our premises and offer stickers to any customers who want them, so they can correct the labels on the bottles they have in stock."

Actual use of the word "Whoops!" will be appreciated.

It's really that simple. All (well, most) will be forgiven and you won't have to waste any of your weekend writing me long emails.

And as for Cacao Prieto specifically, a nice check to the CHHS is in order too.

UPDATE: In 2022, Heaven Hill Brands acquired Widow Jane. On the Widow Jane website you will find the following: "We are extremely proud to partner with the Century House Historical Society who guard and promote the foundational history of the Mines and town of Rosendale."

Association Proposes Ethics Code for Craft Spirits Producers

What follows is a press release, which I am reproducing verbatim. It is relevant to our subject of the last few days. It sounds great but there is already a serious flaw. They claim that acceptance of the code is required of all members, which might be really useful if the group would put its membership list on its web site, ideally linked to the products those member sell. Like Reagan said, "trust, but verify."

Speaking of which, they do have a list of the Association's 'founding' distilleries. It includes yesterday's transparency offender, Cacao Prieto. Since I refuse to write about vodka, someone else will need to call out some of the other 'founders.' It looks like ACSA should have gotten its own house in order before this big release.

A few years ago, the American Distilling Institute (ADI) launched a miserable certification program that landed with a big thud. Many hoped the ACSA would do better. Many still hope that.

Oh, and you shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition or double-space after a period.
________________________

The American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA), the non-profit trade organization that represents America's growing craft distilling community, today unveiled a code of ethics that all members must faithfully adhere to. Developed by the ACSA Ethics Committee under the leadership of chairman Paul Hletko, the code states the following:

ACSA Code of Ethics

"We operate in an honest, transparent and non-deceptive fashion. We inform consumers truthfully and accurately about the sources and methods used to make our spirits through our labels, materials and communications. We expect fair dealing and respect amongst members.  We obey all federal, state, and local laws."

According to ACSA president Thomas Mooney, "This brief but powerful code of ethics reassures consumers and the spirits trade that our members' products are both honest and authentic. The future of the craft distilling revolution depends on our transparency."

All members of ACSA are now required to sign on to the Code. ACSA Executive Director Penn Jensen further notes that the code creates a "statement of faith upon which the consumer can rely: what's in the bottle is what the distiller says is in the bottle." Jensen adds that "it's the consumer who over the long haul will determine a brand's fate. Ethics and honesty will play a large role in that."

Background Note: In March of this year the newly elected Board of Directors authorized a change in name for the American Craft Distillers Association (ACDA) to the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA). The change was made to include those authentic artisans who are crafting spirits through blending, re-distilling, and contracting with other distillers to build unique new products.

Death by List

It's hard to be a journalist these days. I'm not talking about myself. Without getting into what I do, my thing is pretty well set. I'm also old and will die soon (but not soon enough for some people).

No, I'm talking about young people trying to get established, find a voice, and make a living. That last one is especially hard. There are no more journalists, no writers or reporters, just content producers and content providers. The modern media devours content at an alarming rate and, consequently, values any one bit of it very little. You have to crank out an immense number of words, albeit in tiny packages, to have any hope of feeding your family, and the people you are selling them to could care less about quality or accuracy.

You probably even signed a contract making that your problem, you know, if they're ever sued.

In 1997, Puff Daddy told us it was all about the Benjamins. Today, it's all about the clicks. At that, lists excel. Lists have been popular since the Big Man dropped the first ten on Moses, but never more than today.

It's the list's premise that draws the clicks, so what's actually in the list doesn't matter much. You can't unclick that which has been clicked.

It is in that context that Jason Diamond for Men's Journal devoted 15 minutes of his day to crafting "5 American Distilleries Making Whiskey You Can Trust." In the wake of Eric Felten's Daily Beast piece, Diamond created an 'answer' list. Although he doesn't mention Felten's article, he does link to SKUs "Complete List of American Whiskey Distilleries & Brands."

Then he drops, as his number two selection, Widow Jane Bourbon. I watched the article being edited live, so who knows what it says now. The fact is, Widow Jane Bourbon was distilled and aged by one of the usual suspects in Kentucky or Indiana (SKU says Indiana) from a standard recipe. Cacao Prieto bought the mature whiskey in bulk, took it to New York, and diluted it from barrel proof (about 65% ABV) to bottling proof (45.5% ABV) with water from the Widow Jane Mine.

Diamond's other four recommendations, by the way, are excellent. Eighty percent is passing in most schools, so Diamond didn't do a terrible job, he just wiffed on Widow Jane. Adding water to whiskey is not a craft. Adding water to whiskey is something millions of misguided souls do every day. There is nothing artisan about it.

Cacao Prieto does have a distillery and on the product list on their web site, the products they actually distill are conveniently labeled "Distilled in Red Hook, Brooklyn." Widow Jane Bourbon is not one of them. Instead its label says, "Pure Limestone Mineral Water from the Widow Jane Mine, Rosendale, NY."

The detective work here is pretty simple. Cacao Prieto started in 2012 and started to sell this 7-year-old bourbon that same year, so they could not have made it themselves. Since it's pretty obvious this 7-year-old bourbon was not distilled in New York State, and the true state of distillation is not shown on the label, Widow Jane Bourbon is breaking TTB Rule 5.36(d).

In fairness to Cacao Prieto, they didn't ask Diamond to put this product on his ostensibly trustworthy list, but he did, and their labeling violates Federal law. Widow Jane Bourbon may be a very fine whiskey but "artisanally crafted in Brooklyn" it is not.

If only TTB Rule 5.36(d) had been followed, Jason Diamond might have been spared this small embarrassment.

After Templeton, Who's Next? How About Tin Cup?

The prospective wrath of the United States Government, however toothless it may be in any given instance, still has the power to rattle cages. For almost ten years, Templeton Rye President Scott Bush has mocked critics of his not-made-in-Iowa rye whiskey, but when the biggest newspaper in Iowa got involved, asking questions about violations of federal labeling requirements, the company's owner stepped into the light and promised to sin no more.

So, who's next? How about Tin Cup? Here's their web site. The first thing you see splashed across your screen is "American Whiskey. Tin Cup. Colorado." Go ahead, soak up their story first, then come back here for the rest.

Behind all the breathtaking Colorado imagery is a whiskey distilled and aged at MGP in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, the source of so many non-distiller producer (NDP) whiskeys. Although Tin Cup owner Proximo Spirits has a bottling plant just down the street from the Indiana distillery where Tin Cup is made, the product is bottled at the Stranahan Distillery, in Denver, which is also owned by Proximo. That's so they can use Colorado water (i.e., Denver tap water) to dilute it from barrel proof (about 65% ABV) to bottling proof (42% ABV), and thereby say it was 'made' in Colorado.

The truth about Tin Cup has been a poorly kept secret from the beginning. Ben Landreth broke the news on Denver Westword in February. The blog RW&B (Red, White, and Bourbon) was suspicious in December of 2013. The true source of Tin Cup's whiskey has been mentioned on many other blogs and throughout social media.

So why bring it up here? Because the words "distilled in Indiana" do not appear on the label, as required by TTB rule 5.36(d). It wouldn't be credible to suppose that a big outfit like Proximo or an industry veteran like Jess Graber is unaware of the 5.36(d) requirement. It's obvious they want desperately to say "Colorado Whiskey" but can't, so they say "Colorado" and "Whiskey" a lot separately and hope you, the consumer, will put them together. No doubt many consumers have.

The words "Distilled in Indiana," even in mouse type, would rather spoil that illusion. Tin Cup is not 'made' in Colorado in any meaningful sense. It is 'made' in Indiana, and merely diluted and bottled in Colorado.

And Breckenridge Distillery, 'makers' of Breckenridge Bourbon, this message is for you too. It is, for that matter, also directed at the dozens of other NDPs whose labels are in violation of 5.36(d).

The rule could not be more simple. You're required to have an address (city and state) on your label. Everybody adheres to that one because it's pretty easy to use any address you want to use, since it only has to be a 'place of business.' But if your place-of-business address is not in Indiana, and your distillery is, then you must put 'distilled in Indiana' on your label. That's the law.

Compliance with TTB Rule 5.36(d) is not optional. You're not off the hook because TTB approved your label without that information. In fact, there are severe penalties for filing an application that omits crucial information that you know or should know (as a responsible industry member) is required.

Follow Templeton's example, Tin Cup, Breckenridge, and all the rest of you. Get ahead of the story now and demonstrate some respect for your customers.