United Group Insurance

Templeton Rye co-owner responds to lawsuit allegations

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October 4th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Keith Kerkhoff, co-owner and Templeton Rye recipe-holder of Templeton, Iowa-based Templeton Rye Spirits, LLC, responded today (Saturday)to allegations made in lawsuits filed in Chicago. On the company’s social media site, Kerhoff said “The unfortunate and misguided lawsuits have been turned over to our lawyers. The claims made in these lawsuits are false and damaging to our company.”

He went on to say “Templeton Rye is a unique, award-winning whiskey based on the Prohibition Era Kerkhoff recipe. We have a distilling partner in Indiana and flavor engineer in Kentucky who supply ingredients but Templeton Rye is made in Templeton, Iowa. They supply flour and eggs and we bake the cake.”

Kerkhoff said “We have never hidden the fact that we have a distilling partner in Indiana. We don’t think folks buy Templeton based on where it might be distilled. We think they buy our product because it is a great tasting whiskey with a unique story at a fair price. We are a small Iowa company trying to do great things in our community and our state. It is a shame that we are being attacked with this frivolous lawsuit from a Chicago law firm.”

Last Tuesday,the Iowa attorney general’s office said a lawsuit alleging whiskey maker Templeton Rye misled consumers can proceed. The proposed class-action lawsuit was filed in Illinois by a Chicago law firm on behalf of consumers in the country who have purchased a Templeton Rye bottle. It claims the company broke consumer protection laws and misled drinkers about where the whiskey is made.  The newspaper reports a second Chicago law firm plans to file a class-action lawsuit.