Fresh Bourbon Wins Appeal In Legal Battle With Brough Brothers Over ‘First Black-Owned’ Claim – AfroTech
The legal battle between Fresh Bourbon and Brough Brothers Distillery is over — at least for now — after a federal appeals court ruled that Fresh Bourbon did not make false advertising claims about being Kentucky’s first Black-owned bourbon distillery.
Battle Over ‘First Black-Owned’ Title
Victory Global LLC, doing business as Louisville-based Brough Brothers Distillery, sued Fresh Bourbon LLC in March 2021, alleging the Lexington company falsely claimed to be Kentucky’s first Black-owned bourbon distillery, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.
The case centered on competing timelines. Both companies, founded in the 2010s, initially outsourced distillation before opening their own facilities and launching their own products in 2020, the outlet notes.
Brough Brothers, founded in 2013 by brothers Victor, Chris, and Bryson Yarbrough, began selling bourbon in 2020 and filled its first barrel at its own Louisville facility later that year after securing a license, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
Fresh Bourbon, owned by Sean and Tia Edwards, said it had been producing Kentucky bourbon since 2018 through a partnership with Hartfield & Co. Distillery, and had also begun sales in 2020, per the outlet. The company later opened its own Lexington facility in 2022 and cited a 2020 Kentucky Senate resolution recognizing it as the state’s first Black-owned bourbon distillery.
Appeals Court Sides With Fresh Bourbon
To succeed in its false advertising claim, Brough Brothers needed to prove that Fresh Bourbon made false or misleading statements that deceived consumers and influenced their purchasing decisions, according to the outlet.
In a March 26, 2026, opinion, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that although Brough Brothers established its own facility earlier, Fresh Bourbon began producing Kentucky bourbon sooner.
Writing for the court, Circuit Judge Eric Murphy said Fresh Bourbon’s marketing was not necessarily false. Instead, he said the claim could be interpreted differently by consumers, the Louisville Courier Journal notes.
“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.”
He added, “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.”
A Brough Brothers attorney did not reply to a comment request at this time, per the outlet.
What Happens Next?
Attorney Perry Adanick, who represents Fresh Bourbon, told the Louisville Courier Journal he was unsure whether Brough Brothers would pursue an appeal.
“Fresh Bourbon hopes that this matter is now put to rest once and for all,” Adanick said. “Two courts have carefully reviewed the matter, and we believe (as we have all along) that they have reached the right decision.”
