Old Rip Van Winkle Bourbon is Not Vegan Friendly

by The Sazerac Company
Address: 10101 Linn Station Road, Suite 400
Louisville, Kentucky, 40223
USA
Phone: 866-729-3722
Fax:
Email: info@sazerac.com
URL: https://www.sazerac.com/
Checked by: AngelA
Double checked by: Nico, Brian, Brett, KD, Lauren, Jordan, Amanda D., Devin, Chris, Kimberley, Michelle, Shane, Tayler, Benjie, Carlie, Alex, Katey, Regan, Kathie, Alee, Julian, Elizabeth, Jeff, Christine, Angela, Jaji, Michelle, Marilyn, Sarah, Charlotte, Freddy, Evan
Added: about 14 years ago
Double Checked: 3 months ago

Company email (December 2023) re: Yukon Jack
"Yukon Jack does contain an animal-derived enzyme used in the fermentation process. The product is made and bottled only within the United States."

Company email (December 2023) re: Myer's Rum
"Myers’s Rum does not contain animal ingredients. It is only manufactured and bottled in the U.S. and Canada."

Company email (December 2023) re: Carstairs
"Our product development team indicated they made a mistake and Carstairs does in fact contain an enzyme that's animal-derived, which is used during the fermentation process."

Company email (September 2023)
"Our recipe is proprietary so I will not be able to confirm what is or is not included.
However, I can confirm that this product is produced in the US and some in Canada, and it is bottled in the US."

Company email (July 2023)
"Does Ancient Ancient Age contain any animal ingredients (such as milk/lactose/casein, eggs, cochineal, honey, animal-derived enzymes, etc) or are animal products used in the processing/filtration of the product (such as isinglass, gelatin, etc)? No

Also, is your product manufactured or bottled anywhere else in the world (by a sub-licensee, for instance) that might use a different processing system, thus making them unsuitable for vegans? No"

Company email (May 2023)
"Our bourbons are not produced from certified organic grains. They are not vegan. The fermenting does use an enzyme derived from chicken eggs."

Company email (December 2022)
"Sazerac Rye is vegan. Furthermore, it is not bottled/produced by others."

Company email (July 2022) re: Sheep Dog whiskey
"Sheep Dog whiskey is not vegan friendly.
There is an enzyme derived from chicken eggs used in the mashing/fermentation process making this product not vegan."

Company email (December 2021) re Fireball Whiskey:
"Thanks for your recent email and for being a fan. While no animal products are added directly to Fireball, there is an animal-derived binder in the yeast preparation used to ferment the whisky mash prior to distillation, therefore we cannot claim Fireball Whisky to be completely vegan"

Company email (June 2021)
"E.H. Taylor bourbons are vegan and are not manufactured at any other facility."

Company email (June 2021)
"I am told that Sheep Dog Peanut Butter is not suitable for a vegan diet."

Company email (June 2021) re Fireball Whiskey:
"Unfortunately, I am told we cannot confirm Fireball is suitable for vegans. While the vast majority of our products are vegan, we have a discovered a few ingredients we purchase from third party vendors that contain trace amount of animal derived materials. Unfortunately, developing suitable alternatives can be a significant hurdle for some of these vendors.
Fireball produced in Montreal and sold in Israel is certified Kosher.
Thank you for your patience as we continue to move towards an animal free product line-up."

Company email (March 2021)

"...to the best of our knowledge no animal derived ingredients or processing aids are used in the manufacture of Sheep Dog whiskey."

Company email (February 2021)

"... to the best of our knowledge no animal derived ingredients or processing aids are used in the manufacture of Romana Black."

Company email (January 2021)

"I checked with quality team and [Dr. McGillicuddy’s schnapps] are suitable for vegans."

Company email (December 2019)
"Platinum 7X vodka would not be appropriate for a vegan diet."

Company email (October 2019) re Fleischmann’s Vodka:
"Unfortunately, I am told we cannot confirm Fleischmann’s Vodka is suitable for vegans.

"While the vast majority of our products are vegan, we have a discovered a few ingredients we purchase from third party vendors that contain trace amount of animal derived materials. Unfortunately, developing suitable alternatives can be a significant hurdle for some of these vendors."

Company email (January 2019)
"We wanted to let you know we just heard from the product development team. Dr. McGillicuddy’s Mentholmint is vegan."

Company email (August 2018) re: Fireball Whisky:
" I’ve looked into this for you and unfortunately we have found that one of the ingredients in Fireball has a vegetarian status but not vegan status and therefore we cannot claim Fireball Whisky to be completely vegan."

Company email (April 2017) re: Ten High
"We contacted our Quality Team who indicated that Ten High does not contain any animal ingredients (such as milk, eggs, honey, etc.) nor is it processed where other animal products might be used in processing/filtration. It is not produced at any other location."

Company email (December 2016) re: Peychaud's Bitters
"I am told Peychaud’s Bitters are vegan friendly."

Company email (April 2016) re: Fireball Whisky
"I have checked with our quality team and have been advised there are no animal products used in the production or filtration of Fireball Whisky and that it is vegan friendly" [Note: they also said the previous (Jan 2016) statement was "probably not worded correctly]

Company email (January 2016): re: Fireball Whisky

"I have asked our chemist about this and he let me know there is one ingredient in Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey that is Lacto Vegetarian and Lacto Ovo Vegetarian but not Vegan. "

Company email (January 2014): re: Fireball Whisky
"I have asked our chemist about this and he said: we use bulk real sugar and the bleaching process of sugar most of the time uses bone char (so unfortunately can’t say for sure that products with sugar are vegan friendly). Sorry – did not know this about the sugar used."

Company email (November 2013): re: Barton reserve
"To the best of our knowledge, no animal products are used in the production of our Whiskey products. The “to the best of our knowledge” must be included because we don’t know about the grain fertilizers or other things completely out of our control (therefore we do not have any documentation that they are Vegan certified). I hope this helps."

Company email (May 2013):
"Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding our Di Amore Amaretto. No animal ingredients or filtration are used in manufacturing this product."

Company email (August 2012):
"Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding our Fireball Whisky. To the best of our knowledge, Fireball does not contain or is exposed to any animal derived material as do the rest of our Sazerac products. However, because we cannot 100% guarantee this we always suggest our consumers consult with their physician first to make sure our products are safe for them."

Company email (May 2012):
[When asked about Rain Vodka]: "We don't use any animal derived ingredients in this product, but we do not claim to be vegan."

Company email (March 2012):
"We only filter Rain if needed and we do not use any animal derived ingredients. It goes through filter pads made of cellulose. However, we are not certified as vegan."

Company email (May 2011):
"To the best of our knowledge, we do not use any animal derived material in making this product. The filtration medium used for this product is diatomaceous earth. Also, we process and manufacture all Peychaud's bitters here in Frankfort."

Company email (April 2011):
"Thank you for your recent inquiry. As for your questions, our whiskey comes from Grain, we use diatomaceous earth to filter and our barrels are made from wood with steel hoops with no glue, just pressure, so to summarize, we use no animal products."

Company email (January 2010):
"Dr. McGillicuddy’s uses white sugar. We do not have certification on the processing method used for the sugar. We do not certify Dr. McGillicuddy’s products as Vegan."

Company email (January 2010):
"None of our bourbons use animal products as ingredients or processing aids. Our Vodkas and gins are also vegan friendly. Our Rain flavors, except for honey mango melon are Vegan. "

Company email:
"The ingredients are all grain, as required by law. Our filtering process is done with diatomaceous earth, currently mined from Oregon. We do not use any animal product in the production of our Bourbons."

Company email: re: Old Rip Van Winkle
"The only products that are used to make bourbon are grain, water & yeast. That is it. No animal products."

Other products by The Sazerac Company: