Fwd: Counterfeit Spirits (YOU WILL BE CAUGHT)

[Husker]

this was emailed from Harry. Probably a good place to put this to INFORM folks. I hope no one here is doing things like this, but be sure to educate others if you hear about this. Like Harry states, we ARE on semi thin ice with these type forums. If the gooberment feels we are are the cause of loss of their revenue (which is our money, btw), then we can be shut down.

H.

All distilling group owners &mods are encouraged to pass the following message on to their members. The more people that see it, the less likely we are to suffer.
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This is an open letter specifically aimed at all the numb-nut, dumb-ass fools out there that think they can make a million by producing, distributing and/or selling counterfeit alcoholic spirits. YOU WILL BE CAUGHT !!
Law enforcement worldwide has at their fingertips, a portable instrument that can easily detect any non-commercial product.
The "Authenticator", a portable Ultraviolet Spectrophotometer, can be used for virtually any alcoholic or non alcoholic liquid from champagne to mineral water. Be sure to read ALL the downloadable pdf's.
http://www.spectroscopic.co.uk/brand-au ... index.html
I remind all visitors to our websites that WE ARE A HOBBY GROUP. Do NOT think that you can learn a bit & then go away and make your fortune as a bootlegger. I repeat, YOU WILL BE CAUGHT !!
Episodes like the Geelong Bust** (thanks the report Marc) only undo all the good work we groups and group members have done towards gaining respectability and legality for our hobby.
** http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/art ... _news.html
So, is it an isolated case? Sadly no. Counterfeiting is a worldwide problem. The following is taken from "Havocscope", the online database of world black market activities. http://www.havocscope.com/tag/counterfeit-alcohol/
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The International Federation of Spirits Producers stated that counterfeit alcohol leads to an estimated Euro 500 to 600 million ($700 million) annual loss.
[Source: Neil Merrett, " Czech sting reveals Eastern Europe's fake spirits boom," CEE-Foodinustry.com, August 3, 2006]
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The Scotch Whisky Association** is kept busy from fighting counterfeit bottles of scotch whisky. According to the organization, at any given time they are handling between 60 to 70 active cases regarding fake scotch.
** http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/swa/21.html
[Source: Christopher Mackie, "The worldwide fight to scotch counterfeit whisky trade,"Scotsman, July 20, 2009.]
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The state of Virginia estimates that it loses $20 million a year in tax revenue to "moonshining", a home-made and illegally smuggled whiskey.
According to the Economist, the whiskey is "cheaply made in 800-gallon stills, most of it smuggled to poor inner cities and sold at half the price of its legal counterparts, avoiding state and federal taxes which run at roughly $25 per gall (3.8 litres) of whiskey."
[Source: "Moonshine: Lighting strikes," The Economist, April 18, 2009.]
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Counterfeit bottles of vodka are set to account for up to half of all vodka sales in Russia this year, according to the Moscow Times. Last year, 12 million bottles of vodka was produced legally, while 17 million bottles were sold in stores. Thus, around 5 million bottles, or 28 percent of all sales, were of fake bottles of vodka. This year, the figure is expected to reach 50 percent as people attempt to save money.
[Source: Courtney Weaver, "Illegal Vodka Set to Account for Half of All Sales," Moscow Times, March 12, 2009.]
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My Conclusion:
These are enormous amounts of money that no government will ignore.
Because of these RENEGADE producers, I fear it's only a matter of time before free and innocent well-meaning hobby sites like ours are targeted by authorities. We will be forced to withdraw from the internet and any further dissemination of information regarding alcohol distillation.
Thanks for reading.
Slainte!
regards Harry

[HookLine]

Well that is really gonna help our cause.

[rad14701]

I've known several bars to refill the same bottles over and over again with illegal spirits... Always wondered why the liquor authority never noticed when they came in for an unannounced inspection because the bottle labels got pretty worn looking after a while... I think most of the time they were too busy looking for fruit flies in the bottles and tax seals than anything else... Funny thing is they never checked the liquor storage room, just what was behind the bar... Might be tighter enforcement in areas where it's more organized, widespread, or in the moonshine belt...

[goose eye]

yall see that bout virginia. cheap made in 800 gal outfits.
pull that article an read it. ha ha

harry the mob is involved an has been for decades with refillin jugs in there controled bars. aint nothin new.

so im tole

[travis]

In pubs (UK) if I suspect they are doctoring the beer & spirits & I am paying good money for what should be quality drinks, it’s a phone call to the Trading Standards Office (UK) they just love tax dodgers, they are straight in there at the juggler, they welcome a phone call.

Regards Travis

[Q-bIc]

does that mean they put something special in the commercial stuff that react to the UV light or how does that work ?

[Husker]

does that mean they put something special in the commercial stuff that react to the UV light or how does that work ?

http://www.spectroscopic.co.uk/brand-au ... works.html

It sounds like they simply take a number of samples of a genuine product (say crown royal). Then run spectral analysis of all of these samples. Then each should test 'about' the same, due to the commercial company trying to keep consistent flavor/odor structure of the product. Once they get the range, then they store that data in a database. Then, in the field, they test a unknown sample, telling the machine it is supposed to be crown royal, and the machine will give a yes/no indication. Pretty simple solution. It is a little bit of a fuzzy logic problem, since samples of a single legit type WILL vary, but they should be close. Thus it is this 'closeness' that is being tested. If things fall outside of this range considerably, the sample is bogus.

H.

[moose]

Re: bars re-using bottles and adding cheaper liquor....

Haven't done the bar thing in many moons, but back in the day the barkeeps would always scratch up the label when they emptied the bottles so that couldn't be done?

[Hawke]

Most of the bars near me have a trash bin and hammer hanging close. When empty, they take it to the bin and give it a wack.

[Aces High]

Sorry, but i'm gonna play devils advocate here....The government are such hypocrites with this kind of thing. The reason all the black marketing goes on with liquor is that the government has loaded so much tax onto these items that people think they can make easy money by making it themselves... In Australia they call it the "Sin Taxes" ..drinking.. smoking etc.. gets taxed 10 times more than standard items.

Now I'm not against paying taxes, but when our standard Australian GST tax is 10%, but liquor gets taxed at $64 ish (can't remember the exact amount) per pure litre of spirit, or $18 per standard 40%/700ml bottle... of course criminals are going to try and make easy money....

[Husker]

AH, your words ring VERY true. However, when the gooberment(s) get worrying about their cash cow, and start shutting off the leaks, WE home distillers will likely get caught up in the sweep of things. Boards like this that disseminate information, are REALLY BIG targets for sweeps like this.

H.

[HookLine]

Boards like this that disseminate information, are REALLY BIG targets for sweeps like this.

H.

For this forum at least it would be kinda like shutting the barn door five years after the horse has bolted and gone on a world tour.

[Husker]

Boards like this that disseminate information, are REALLY BIG targets for sweeps like this.

H.

For this forum at least it would be kinda like shutting the barn door five years after the horse has bolted and gone on a world tour.

Agreed Hook, but do feel the gooberments make sane decisions all the time, especially with loss of their graft is in question?

H.

[goinbroke2]

If you want to copy store bought just add lots of heads and tails....

Seriously, we use spectrum analysis on the engines and tranny's of our army tanks. It's called a "soap" sample. Basically they take the sample of oil and burn it and with a spectrum analysis machine "watch the colours of the flame". Blue means too much copper or green might mean too much aluminum etc.

To do this with any liquid is pretty easy.

That said, I fully agree if someone is doing that then it could have bad ramifications to us and other boards like this. I personally know two bartenders and a bar owner. Would they buy illegal likker? Hard to say but profit in these times is tight, you never know. If I knew it was going on though, I would steer well clear of the place.

The point about taxes is true too. The gubment makes criminals out of law abiding citizens when it poses arbitrary or (in this case) unfairly taxed (in the public's perception) rules. If tomorrow they decided to tax bread at $30.00 a loaf, how many people do you think would start making their own bread? And of course then they would be criminals. Not because they are not law abiding citizens in every other way, but through gubment taxation and vying for control. I don't mind paying my fair share of taxes (and then some damn it) but when the government tries to control my personal choices in life (drinking/smoking/etc) by way of a tax grab, yes I take issue with that. A muffler for your car is $50.00, one for a "pleasure craft" boat or 4 wheeler etc is $200.00. No it's not all taxes, but the same mentality applies. The difference is it's a company doing it instead of a government. If both mufflers cost $50.00 but through taxation the boat muffler was $200.00, you know people would be pissed. Regardless if the government wants less boating because they've deemed it "unsafe", if the people feel it is unjust, then they will resist it and become criminals.

[rad14701]

I think the aspect we really need to be looking at this from is that a consumer in an establishment is expecting that the spirits poured from a labeled bottle are, in fact, the spirits manufactured by the distillery listed on the label... It's just that simple... It has nothing to do with the government agencies at all aside from truth in advertising... The one exception to that statement is that when a bottle has been re-filled with counterfeit spirits, the distillery named on the label becomes liable for any poisoning caused by the counterfeit spirits... True, they should be able to win the case in court, but at what expense...??? Taxation being too high is no excuse for selling counterfeit spirits...

If enough folks say enough is enough, then things will change... The silent go unheard... Those who vote from the rooftops due to frustration are seen as radicals... Only an orderly and well thought out campaign to make changes is accepted, and not always successful on the first or even successive attempts... But, sooner or later, "we, the people" can make a difference... Countries other than the US may have a different motto/mantra than "we, the people"... Who is the government, and how did it get to be what it is today...??? We are, and we let it get the way it is either through action or in-action... That's honest truth, not political banter...