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| St. Nicolas Abbey Small Batch Craft Still |
With all of the class action suits going on over Tito's Vodka's use of the word "Homemade" I find it very interesting that there is no "legal" definition for "Craft Distilling". This article I found in "The Spirits Business" does a good job of exploring the subject.
When Diageo announced its confidence at the end of last year that it could
become the number-one craft distiller in North American whiskey, there were
more than a few puzzled expressions in the spirits industry.
Some believed the drinks colossus was tainting the seemingly pure values of
the craft sector, flippantly adopting them in mere marketing trickery for its
new Orphan Barrel Whiskey Distilling Company, which bottles “forgotten”
whiskies and markets the product under a new name. Others viewed the move as
positive for growth in an industry that suffers from small budgets, red tape
and a lack of aged stock.
The news and its reaction perfectly summarized the ongoing craft spirits
conundrum: in a sector with no overarching national or international
regulations, how do you decipher crafty marketing from the genuine article?
What is clear is that craft spirits have experienced a renaissance across
the globe, something which many have attributed to – as Chip Tate, head
distiller at Texas Bourbon distillery Balcones, puts it – “a return to older
values. In the US in particular, there’s a sense that whiskies and other
spirits are no longer just commodities. This is in an industry which has been
driven by marketing and not necessarily by content for a long time. But that is
now changing.”
Craft on the rise
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| Key West's Chef Distilling Still |
For others, the growth of craft spirits is the result of the general
premiumization trend taking hold across the industry. As Michael Kinstlick says
in his paper The US Craft Distilling Market: 2011 and
Beyond: “Often
consolidation to a few large firms in an industry creates opportunities for
new, smaller entrants to fill market niches and reach customers large producers
cannot.”
In sum, craft brands have the ability to fill a consumer desire that cannot
be satiated by big businesses. In the US, the number of new craft distilleries
has increased near enough every year since 2007, despite the worldwide economic
downturn. There are now 636 craft distilleries operating in the US and,
although this represents huge growth compared with the 24 working craft distilleries
in 2000, the sector still only produces about 1% of the total spirits sold.
It is in this exclusive marketplace that larger corporations are beginning
to make tracks. But
questions abound whether these drinks giants have any place
in the small entrepreneurial world of craft spirits. Although in the minds of
the many, the term “craft” should be reserved for small-batch, independent
producers, no labelling laws exist to prevent Diageo or Rémy Cointreau from
slapping it on their bottles.
The closest the industry has come to gaining “official” certification is the
criteria provided by the American Distilling Institute (ADI), which stipulates:
“Craft spirits are the products of an independently owned distillery with
maximum annual sales of 52,000 cases where the product is physically distilled
and bottled on-site.”
“Fair game”
Executives at the ADI are currently applying to the US Patent and Trademark
Office to have its definition officially recognised by government; however,
until then, craft spirits labelling is fair game. Larger companies have been
quick to defend their craft credentials, claiming that in the face of
conflicting and unofficial definitions, they have an important part to play in
the movement.
“The conversations and debates occurring around the craft sector are part of
what is making this incredible growth period for whiskey so much fun,” says
Ewan Morgan, master of whiskey at Diageo’s Orphan Barrel.
“Everyone has their own opinion and should have the right to voice it. Craft
is about artisanship, passion, experience, great liquid and great products. Not
all small distilleries are craft, and not all craft distilleries are small.”
Sean Harrison, head distiller at Chivas Brothers’ Plymouth Gin, similarly
believes that, in the wider gin industry, distillers in both independent and
larger companies abide by the “exact same values”.
Big producer prejudice
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| Angostura High Volume Column Stills |
Speaking to
The Spirits Business earlier this year, Harrison said:
“Artisan and craft brands are great, but most gins are handmade and follow the
same principles. It’s the nature of the beast that people might have some
prejudice towards these bigger companies and have a belief they might not be in
the business for the right reasons.”
This thought has even been reiterated throughout the craft industry, with
producers willing to acknowledge the virtues of large scale production. “The
distillers across the mainstream and craft sectors are a nice family,” says
Jonathan Clark, director of the City of London Distillery. “Instead of being
direct competitors, we all help each other and, although there’s a huge
difference between what we do, neither one is wrong.”
The industry therefore appears not to be dividing itself into craft and
non-craft, authentic and disingenuous, but what most members of the sector want
is honest labelling. As Tate puts it: “All too often, the level of disclosure
on bottles claiming to be craft is not enough and as a consumer, you have to
ask the right questions about the brands. It’s not a bad thing to source liquid
from a third party, but brands should represent themselves truthfully.”
Read More at
http://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2014/10/are-large-distillers-hijacking-craft/
It is that nutty night of horror and creepy people running the streets. For me at the end of the docks that have no children living on it I seem to be exempt from all of the creepy things visiting. Not that I don't care for this yearly event, but I really don't enjoy people banging on the boat wanting junk passed out, but I don't.
