VICTORY GLOBAL, LLC, v. FRESH BOURBON, LLC - Articles

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VICTORY GLOBAL, LLC, v. FRESH BOURBON, LLC

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Mar 26, 2026

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Brian M. Johnson, DICKINSON WRIGHT PLLC, Lexington, Kentucky, for Appellant.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Perry Adanick, ROLFES HENRY CO., LPA, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellee.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Brian M. Johnson, DICKINSON WRIGHT PLLC, Lexington, Kentucky, for Appellant.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Perry Adanick, ROLFES HENRY CO., LPA, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellee.

Judge(s): SUTTON, Chief Judge; MURPHY and BLOOMEKATZ, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky at Lexington

MURPHY, Circuit Judge. Bourbon has been the cause of many Kentucky controversies. “The idea of ‘the first distiller,’” for example, “has bemused Kentucky historians and writers for well over a century.” Henry G. Crowgey, Kentucky Bourbon: The Early Years of Whiskeymaking 24 (1971). Was the first distiller Evan Williams? Elijah Craig? Some long-forgotten settler? See id. at 24–25. And where was this drink first distilled—in Georgetown in 1789 or Fort Harrod in 1774? See Maker’s Mark Distillery, Inc. v. Diageo N. Am., Inc., 679 F.3d 410, 415 (6th Cir. 2012). This case involves a similar controversy: Which African American-owned company first distilled bourbon? Victory Global (which does business as Brough Brothers) claims to have become the “first” when it opened its physical distillery in 2020. But Fresh Bourbon counters that it was the “first” because its owners physically distilled their brand at another company’s distillery two years earlier. Disagreeing with Fresh Bourbon’s claim, Brough Brothers sued it for false advertising under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). 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. The district court thus properly granted summary judgment to Fresh Bourbon. We affirm.

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