Ellers Farm Distillery has denied misleading consumers over a claim its Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka is distilled a minimum of 70 times.
The distillery – co-owned by actor and comedian Ricky Gervais – was this week accused of “a deliberate attempt to mislead consumers” by Lucas Driggers, co-founder of Nine Rivers Distillery Company in China.
Ellers Farm Distillery was “redefining what a distillation cycle is” to make its “distilled (at least) 70 times” claim, Driggers argued on LinkedIn.
“In their world, simply passing over a copper plate is the act of ‘distillation’ and as their column still has 70 plates, then one distillation run results in a vodka that they claim is distilled 70 times,” Driggers wrote. “I personally find such a claim mind-blowing, and it looks like a deliberate attempt to mislead consumers into thinking the vodka is in some way better, cleaner and smoother than other vodka products.”
Other commentators weighed in on the debate. “Distillation means the whole process through,” one wrote. “How uninformed do they think the consumer base is?”
Another, however, said they felt the criticism dished out by Driggers was “unwarranted”.
“The claim isn’t necessarily misleading; it just reflects a different approach to distillation that might not align with traditional definitions,” they said.
Ellers Farm Distillery founder and chairman Chris Fraser told The Grocer it had “always been transparent around provenance, process and location of production”.
Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka was made using “a careful combination of column stills, pot stills, and rectification columns”, Fraser said. “During the process the liquid passes through 70 distillation plates where it vaporises and condenses at least 70 times, purifying the liquid at each step.”
This process was “the foundation of our statement about the number of distillations,” he said.
Ellers Farm Distillery was “in favour of more disclosure in the industry for the consumer’s benefit” and enjoyed “showing customers around our state-of-the-art distillery” and explaining how Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka was made, Fraser added.
Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka is stocked by Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, and produced from British apples at Ellers Farm, near York.
Gervais took an ownership stake in both the brand and distillery in November 2023.
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