Private Labels: Are We Going Too Far?
I want to preface this column with the following: I love bourbon and whiskey, sports, humor, and private barrel picks. I always try to find the humor is most every situation and I am generally considered to have a wicked sense of humor. Few topics are off the table for me. The picture here is of a recent FOMO sticker created by a private barrel picking group based out of Kentucky. I am a huge University of Kentucky fan and know the full history behind Rick Pitino and his careers at both UK and the University of Louisville. For those who don’t know; they are hated rivals. Fans on each side despise the teams and fans from the other. The rivalry gets nasty and when one side or the other does something humiliating….game on!
Riff Pitino
When I first saw this sticker, I was immediately amused and somewhat amazed at the creativity of it. On the surface, it basically shows a narrative that Rick Pitino was happy and perfect during his time at UK and was broken and controversial during his time at UL. Both are accurate but slight exaggerations of the truth. For those who are not sports nuts, especially college sports in Kentucky, then the label probably brings you more questions than answers.
The group who designed this label called it “Riff Pitino” as the sticker is going on a private barrel of New Riff the group selected. For those who may not understand how this works, a private group will select a single barrel either at a distillery or from samples sent to them via their distribution reps. Once the group selects a barrel, it is common for the group to come up with a name for the pick. Most of the time, the name is related to either some inside joke in the group, something said during the pick, or a pop culture theme. For the most part, these pick names and stickers are harmless. Ultimately, they are designed to make that pick special for the members of the pick team and the group. These stickers allow them to have special bottles to share with friends or sit on their back bar. Recently, I was part of a picking group at Four Roses and we were blessed enough to have Al Young as part of the Four Roses group hosting the pick. The team picked two barrels that day and the theme of the day was Al’s change in attitude from the start of the picking to the end. The FOMO stickers have pictures of Al and each were named based on his different demeanor during that day. These are special bottles to me because of the story and experience behind them.
Before I go into the negative part of this piece, I will say I love private barrel and group picks. I love that those bottles are not like any other bottles because they come from a single barrel, picked specifically by a group of people, and they have a special story. The Pitino sticker raises some important questions about this entire process and whether, ultimately, it is a good or bad thing for the bourbon industry.
For starters, when this hit social media and local Louisville and Lexington talk radio, the narrative was “Northern Kentucky distillery New Riff to sell a bottle of Rick Pitino bourbon”. Yes, I know, that we all know that New Riff has nothing to do with what these private groups do to the bottles after they are received. Some groups go to their garage and melt wax over top of the cork. Some groups engrave their group name into the bottle itself, and most all groups add these FOMO stickers. All these things are done outside the privy of the distillery and with no authorization from those who may be depicted on the stickers. The issue here is the general media does not understand these things, so when they see a Rick Pitino sticker set to be placed on an upcoming release of New Riff bourbon; that is a major issue. This is bad publicity for New Riff and the worry here is the distilleries decide the risk of what is on FOMO stickers is more than they are willing to take and they start eliminating groups that use these from their barrel selection list.
I have seen FOMO stickers with blatant pictures of copyrighted entities like Batman, Superman, Beavis and Butthead, etc. These groups make no attempt to modify the images so that the use of the images is not a blatant rip off. There is no attempt to hide the fact they are using these images and likenesses. Will there be the wrong celebrity, business owner, PR rep, etc. that comes across one of these and decides to create a lawsuit from it? If so, who is at fault? The distillery for selling products to groups? Individuals who manage these groups and create these stickers? Until now, I have asked myself that question but quickly dismissed it as, ultimately, the chances of a bottle of Traverse City Barrel Proof “Beavis and Butthead” pick getting to Mike Judge is slim to none. The sensitivity of the contents of the Pitino sticker did make me pause; not because it upset me or I think it is in bad taste. I think it is hilarious. However, he is a public figure who historically has fiercely protected his name, likeness, and reputation when others attempted to besmirch it. Will he or his people decide to take legal action? Hopefully not, but if they do I can see a future where the private selection and barrel picking world changes for the worse and that is not a world I want to live in.
Private Blends
There is yet another group in the Kentucky area that is taking things a step further. They have purchased barrels and are making their own “blends” and sharing them with the people in their group. On the surface: not an issue, right? Many of us have small barrels at home we use to make strange blends, “Poor Man’s Pappy”, etc. We consume these in the confines of our home and maybe share with friends. Would you be happy if someone was creating these blends, fashioning a non-TTB label, and putting it in a bottle? These obviously cannot and will not be sold to the public via normal distribution, but are we naive enough to think these haven’t exchanged hands via the secondary market? Could this possibly occur during group bourbon club bottle sharings? These private blend bottles exist and I have seen them first hand. Are we comfortable enough with people that we are confident they will not tamper with the contents? Even though these are not sold on the market, they eerily take us back to the time of rectifiers, whose actions spurred the need for the Bottled in Bond act.
Ultimately the sticker is harmless until the wrong person with the correct amount of public and legal resources decides enough is enough. At that time, the private selection programs will change and look much differently than they do today. Will it be for better or for worse? Hopefully we never have to find out.
In closing, most of us like private barrel picks, the barrel selection process, and the stories that make them special. Some of us like experimenting in our basements, blending whiskies from different distilleries to see how they interact. We need to make sure private barrel selection groups are making good decisions on what they are doing with these bottles after they are received. Negative publicity for any bourbon distillery is bad for all of bourbon and the bourbon community.
Cheers!
