Templeton Rye misled consumers, lawsuit says

A Chicago law firm has filed a lawsuit against Templeton Rye, claiming the Iowa company broke consumer protection laws and misled drinkers with stories of its whiskey's prohibition-era origins.

The class-action lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois on behalf of "all individuals in the United States who've purchased a bottle of Templeton Rye," comes after revelations in August that the whiskey is made using the stock recipe of an Indiana distillery.

Since the company released its first bottles of whiskey in 2006, its marketing materials have said the founders were inspired by the Prohibition-era recipe of Alphonse Kerkhoff handed down through his family on a scrap of paper. But in an interview last month with The Des Moines Register, company chairman Vern Underwood said federal regulations prevent the company from making the whiskey using the Kerkhoff recipe.

The company also announced plans to begin printing on its labels that the whiskey is distilled in Indiana. The issue gained national media attention after The Daily Beast published an article in July detailing how numerous "craft" whiskey brands buy their product from MGP Ingredients, a Lawrenceburg, Ind. distillery.

Prior to the company's recent admissions, Templeton Rye worked to deceive drinkers into believing "the good stuff" was a craft whiskey made in Iowa, violating the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, according to the lawsuit. The complaint includes pictures of the company's marketing tools, including a T-shirt reading, "Templeton Rye: Made in Iowa" and a flyer from a tasting at a Chicago bar that advertises the "small-batch rye whiskey made in the tiny town of Templeton."

"Consumers, seeking an alternative to mainstream, mass-produced alcoholic beverages have purchased hundreds of thousands of bottles of Defendant's Templeton Rye and have paid a premium price over other whiskeys to obtain those qualities," the lawsuit said. "Unfortunately, thousands of consumers across the country have been injured by Defendant's deceptive marketing practices."

Christopher McNair, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, is a Chicago resident who purchased "more than a dozen" bottles of Templeton Rye between 2008 and 2014, the lawsuit said. McNair paid approximately $35 for each bottle, believing he was paying extra for the whiskey because of its craft distillation process and roots to small-town Iowa.

"He's someone who takes it seriously and does not like to have purchased things under what he believes to be false information," said Christopher Dore, an attorney with Edelson PC, the firm handling the case.

The Chicago-based law firm has ran an online advertisement looking for clients to join a class-action lawsuit against several whiskey companies, including the makers of Templeton Rye, WhistlePig Rye and Bulleit Rye. The class action lawsuit filed earlier this month against Templeton Rye does not specify the amount of damages attorneys are seeking, Dore said.

Seattle food safety lawyer Bill Marler told the Register in August that he believed the company's marketing tactics were creating a ripe situation for a class-action lawsuit. Dore said he believes the Chicago firm's lawsuit against the Iowa company is currently the only one that's been filed over consumer protection issues.

Company co-founder Scott Bush did not immediately respond to a call from a reporter.

On its website, the company has highlighted the positive benefits it's brought to the Carroll County city of Templeton, including putting more than $1 million back into the local economy. The company hopes to begin building a distillery in Templeton in 2015 to bring its distilling functions back to Iowa.

Bottles of Iowa-made Templeton Rye could be available by 2020-2021, the company has said.