Kentucky ABC seeks to take license, shut down another vintage bourbon retailer
Kentucky alcohol regulators are moving to shut down another bourbon seller for violations related to the state’s vintage spirits laws.
Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has initiated administrative proceedings to revoke or suspend the licenses for Doc Crow’s Southern Smokehouse & Raw Bar, 127 W. Main St. in Louisville, also known as Bertuca Hospitality Group (Kentucky) LLC.
The case is similar to the action before the Kentucky ABC Board regarding vintage seller Justins’ House of Bourbon Lexington and Louisville stores.
The state also is seeking to revoke or suspend Justins’ House of Bourbon’s alcohol licenses in another case that involved January raids in Kentucky and Washington D.C. related to the buying and selling of bottles not considered vintage.
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A notice for Doc Crow’s was filed Aug. 31 and a pre-hearing conference was held on Oct. 18, an indication the Louisville restaurant and bar, which sells alcohol by the drink in its Doc’s Bourbon Room, plans to fight the action.
A representative of Doc Crow’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kentucky ABC alleges Doc Crow’s violate vintage spirits law
According to the case report, the ABC investigator determined that Doc Crow’s purchased distilled spirits in 2021 but could not produce receipts to prove where the distilled spirits came from; did not notify ABC of all “vintage” purchases, was selling some without a “vintage spirits” sticker, and purchased “multiple distilled spirits that are Not Vintage rather just hard to find.”
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The investigator visited Doc Crow’s in November 2022 and found that the “vintage bottles” included “multiple bottles of Old Rip Van Winkle, 12 Year Old Lot B Van Winkle, multiple bottles of Weller 12 Year, multiple bottles of Weller Antique (with stickers stating Vintage Doc’s Bourbon). There was also a menu section on the menu that says Doc Crow’s secondary Market Acquisitions. At the bottom it also states that everything on this page has been purchased above retail and is hard to obtain.”
The investigator told Justin Bensel, Doc Crow’s director of operations, “that some of the bottle shown were not vintage but just hard to get since they were still being produced by the distillery and sold by wholesalers,” according to the case file.
Van Winkle, Eagle Rare bourbon seized by state
Bensel was told to put the bottles not considered vintage into a secure area and the investigator told him “that nothing was to be opened or tampered with,” which could result in charges.
When the investigator returned a few days later, at least two of the bottles (Van Winkle 12 Year Old Lot B and Thomas H. Handy) had been opened and were missing bourbon, according to the report. Those bottles were confiscated. At least one other bottle — Eagle Rare with a sticker labeling it Liquor Barn Pick — also was confiscated by the investigator because he “knew that Eagle Rare was still made and sold.”
The case is ongoing, according to the Kentucky Public Protection Cabinet.
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