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Buffalo Trace Distillery is releasing what it claims to be the first authentic Kosher Whiskey, under the guidance of the Chicago Rabbinical Council (cRc-Kosher). Buffalo Trace began working with cRc in 2010. The new whiskey is available in three styles, Kosher Rye Recipe Bourbon; Kosher Wheat Recipe Bourbon; and Kosher Straight Rye Whiskey. The three whiskies will starting shipping from Buffalo Trace after Passover ends on April 16, 2020.
The new Kosher whiskey line is limited, but it will be an annual release each year after Passover. The labels depict both Buffalo Trace Distillery logo and the cRc-Kosher logo. Each expression of Buffalo Trace Kosher Whiskey has a suggested retail price of $39.99 per 750ml bottle.
The irony here for keen observers is that bourbon is widely considered kosher already, and two Kentucky distilleries — Heaven Hill and Boone County — have sought and received kosher certification.
Buffalo Trace,and all whiskeys produced by the Sazerac Company in their 9 distilleries, are not normally kosher, ironically, because the company is owned by a Jew.
Jewish law forbids having in one’s ownership, on the holiday of Passover, any products containing grain(Chametz) . The solution most religious Jews use for this is to symbolically sell all such products to a non-jew for a nominal sum on the condition that they retain the right to purchase it back after the holiday(which they do). Without doing this, all products become unkosher.
The owner of the Sazerac Company, William Goldring is a non religious Jew and does not sell his Chametz. As whiskey is aged by the distillery for several years, all whiskey produced by Sazerac has been in their possession during at least one Passover holiday. This renders all of it unkosher.
That is why they are doing this special kosher run.
If you want more information about this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chametz
I’m not Jewish and don’t claim self-expertise, but I’ve been around for conversations between Jewish colleagues about what spirits are kosher and which are not. My take was issues like the one you have raised depend on the religious authority’s interpretation, because there are authorities out there that (for example) state plainly that all bourbon whiskey is by definition kosher, because its legal requirements don’t go anywhere near violating the issue. A good, recent article from a reliable source on the issue is https://www.alcoholprofessor.com/blog-posts/blog/2018/05/17/is-that-whiskey-kosher
yeah kosher law is tricky as hell, the source linked may be a whisky expert but definitely not a kosher expert.
While most common kosher controversies in the whisky world involve sherry/wine casks, Chometz issues are becoming more common given the number of small new distilleries opening some with Jewish ownership (previously FEW spirits was in the same category). Distilleries with known Jewish owners who didn’t sell the product for passover were put on a list that indicated they were not recommended.
This happens to be an issue in kosher law that many Jews (even those in the orthodox community) aren’t aware of, but its legit and the authorities that plainly state whisky is kosher were not commenting with reference to Chometz issues.
Source: Jewish and spent years in Seminary studying Jewish Law.
While I’m not saying you are wrong–what do I know about Jewish law to contest that?–I do know about the internet. The top rule there is always treat some unknown guy with no credentials as suspect when compared with a published article from a credible source, written by someone who isn’t basically anonymous.
Most of us just want to know how it taste. I could care less if it is Kosher or not. This is just another clever way to bring attention to it’s buyers, just like bottled in bond. Both have strict rules in how it has to be made. Buffalo Trace is putting out good stuff these days and we just need to know if this compares to it’s other top brands.