In Penrose v. Buffalo Trace Distillery, the plaintiffs sued, alleging that Buffalo Trace misled consumers into believing that its Old Charter bourbon had been aged for 8 years.
The plaintiffs alleged that Buffalo Trace continued to use labels displaying the number "8" along with the statement that the bourbon was "gently matured for eight seasons," despite the fact that, beginning in 2014, Buffalo Trace stopped aging the bourbon for eight years.
Buffalo Trace moved to dismiss the case on various grounds, but the court allowed the case to continue, holding, among other things, that the court could not determine at the motion to dismiss stage whether Buffalo Trace's statements were, in fact, misleading.
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The Court cannot conclude as a matter of law and at this stage of the litigation that the packaging is not misleading, particularly in light of Plaintiffs' allegations that previously, Old Charter was aged 8 years.
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