CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - A class action lawsuit is accusing a whiskey manufacturer of misleading consumers about the location of its distillery and how much product it produces.
Mario Aliano and Due Fratelli, Inc., filed the lawsuit on Oct. 28 in Cook County, Ill, Circuit Court against Louisville Distilling Company, alleging the company lied about its handcrafted whiskey Angel's Envy Rye. The lawsuit states the whiskey is advertised as being produced in a “small batch” with distiller Lincoln Henderson in Bardstown, Ky.
However, the lawsuit, which was recently removed to federal court, alleges the whiskey is actually distilled and aged by MGP Ingredients in Lawrenceburg, Ind., which produces whiskey in large quantities for other brands.
“As such, Angel’s Envy is not 'small batch that’s … rare in both number and content,'” the lawsuit said, quoting from the company's website. “To the contrary, it is made with the same recipe that all MGP rye whiskey is made with: 95 percent rye and 5 percent barley.”
Since the whiskey was advertised as being made in a small batch, Angel's Envy was marketed as a premium whiskey, which misled consumers into paying more for its product, the complaint claims.
The lawsuit seeks more than $5 million in damages plus court costs. The plaintiffs are represented by Thomas A. Zimmerman Jr. and Frank J. Stretz, of Zimmerman Law Offices, P.C. from Chicago.
On Jan. 27, the defenant removed the lawsuit to U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois-Eastern Division under the Class Action Fairness Act.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois-Eastern Division case number 1:15-cv-00794