Could consumers have plausibly believed that one of the
country's top-selling bourbon brands is "handmade"?
Not according to one federal district court in Florida, which
recently dismissed a class action alleging Maker's Mark
deceived consumers by labeling its whiskey as "handmade."
The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle comes on
the heels of a California federal court's decision not to
dismiss outright a similar consumer class action involving
Tito's Handmade Vodka. Compare Salters v. Beam
Suntory, Inc., 14-cv-659, Dkt. 31, (N.D. Fla. May 1, 2015)
with Hofmann v. Fifth Generation, Inc., 14-cv-2569, Dkt.
15 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 18, 2015)). These divergent opinions
suggest that courts are still puzzling over just how much credence
to grant putative class claims based on allegedly deceptive liquor
labels at the motion to dismiss stage, particularly under the U.S.
Supreme Court's decision in Bell Atlantic Corp v.
Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007). In Twombly,
