Bourbon Battle: Fresh Bourbon Wins Appeal

Ever wondered about the drama behind the bourbon labels? Well, buckle up, because the legal showdown between Fresh Bourbon and Brough Brothers Distillery has finally reached a conclusion – at least for now. A federal appeals court has weighed in, ruling that Fresh Bourbon didn’t engage in false advertising when it claimed the title of Kentucky’s first Black-owned bourbon distillery.

The ‘First Black-Owned’ Bourbon Dispute

This whole saga kicked off back in March 2021 when Victory Global LLC, the company behind Brough Brothers Distillery, filed a lawsuit. They accused Fresh Bourbon, based in Lexington, of falsely advertising its claim to be Kentucky’s inaugural Black-owned bourbon operation. The core of the legal battle? It all came down to who could prove they were first.

Both distilleries, founded in the 2010s, initially outsourced their distillation processes. However, they both opened their own facilities and launched their own products around the same time in 2020. Brough Brothers, established in 2013 by the Yarbrough brothers, began selling bourbon in 2020 and later that year filled its first barrel at its own Louisville facility. Fresh Bourbon, owned by Sean and Tia Edwards, stated they had been producing Kentucky bourbon since 2018 through a partnership and also started sales in 2020. They later opened their own Lexington facility in 2022 and pointed to a 2020 Kentucky Senate resolution recognizing them as the state’s first Black-owned bourbon distillery.

Appeals Court Sides With Fresh Bourbon

For Brough Brothers to win their false advertising claim, they needed to prove that Fresh Bourbon’s statements were not only false or misleading but also that they deceived consumers and influenced purchasing decisions. However, in a March 26, 2026, opinion, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that while Brough Brothers might have established its facility earlier, Fresh Bourbon had indeed begun producing Kentucky bourbon sooner.

Circuit Judge Eric Murphy, writing for the court, explained that Fresh Bourbon’s marketing wasn’t necessarily false. Instead, he noted that consumers could interpret the claim in different ways. “In short, the challenged statements are ‘ambiguous’ and could convey a truthful idea under one interpretation of their meaning,” Judge Murphy wrote. “Because their truth or falsity ‘depends’ on how consumers would interpret the message, they cannot qualify as literally false.”

“Brough Brothers, though, fails to identify any unambiguously false statements that Fresh Bourbon made, so it had the burden to introduce evidence that Fresh Bourbon’s statements had deceived consumers. It made no effort to do so.” — Circuit Judge Eric Murphy

Essentially, the court determined that Brough Brothers didn’t provide enough evidence to show that Fresh Bourbon’s statements were definitively false or that they misled customers. This ruling means Fresh Bourbon can continue to use its marketing claims without being found guilty of false advertising.

What’s Next for the Distilleries?

With this legal victory, Fresh Bourbon is hoping this chapter is closed. Attorney Perry Adanick, representing Fresh Bourbon, expressed his confidence in the court’s decision, stating, “Two courts have carefully reviewed the matter, and we believe (as we have all along) that they have reached the right decision.” It remains to be seen if Brough Brothers will pursue further appeals, but for now, the legal battle over the ‘first Black-owned’ title has been won by Fresh Bourbon.