The launch of BrewDog’s Casa Rayos tequila has been marred by accusations the brand has copied its bottle design from that of a fellow craft distiller.
Edinburgh’s Lind & Lime Gin and its founder Ian Stirling were said to be “absolutely furious” after spying BrewDog’s new tipple on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch this weekend.
“First, I thought Lind & Lime Gin was on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch over the weekend,” Stirling said. “Then I realised it wasn’t Lind & Lime. It’s a knock-off. Finally, I discovered it’s a tequila bottled by a fellow Scottish company called BrewDog. And that really ruined my weekend.”
The bottles of Lind & Lime Gin and Casa Rayos appear to be of a similarly blue hue and both feature a white label on the front, a slender neck and a cork stopper.
While Stirling acknowledged spirits brands were often inspired by their competition, he said BrewDog’s imitation “crosses that line with two middle fingers waving merrily in the air”.
“They knew we’d notice, but simply don’t care because they’re a massive company and we’re not,” he added.
BrewDog, however, insisted the two bottles were meaningfully different.
A spokesman for the brand said the Casa Rayos bottle was “based on the colour and aesthetic form of the blue Weber agave plant” and there had been “no attempt whatsoever to replicate anything,” from Lind & Lime’s design.
“The painted (as opposed to clear) glass colour, bottle shape and contour, glass text, label size and placement, fonts and colours, and embossed design are all obviously different,” the spokesman said. “The bottle also has a real cork stopper and silver ring. And Casa Rayos is a super premium tequila, not a gin.”
The row comes after non-alcoholic beer brand Jump Ship made a similar complaint about BrewDog’s Shore Leave Amber Ale last year.
Jump Ship said it had been producing a series of beers called Shore Leave since mid-2022. BrewDog launched its own Shore Leave amber ale in September 2023.
Founder Sonja Mitchell was incensed after discovering BrewDog was planning to launch Shore Leave under the tagline ‘It’s time to jump ship’ in July 2023.
BrewDog dropped the ‘jump ship’ tagline at Mitchell’s request, but was not willing to change the name of its beer.
BrewDog’s Casa Rayos tequila was unveiled this week by the Scottish craft brewer and distiller.
Available initially via its own bars and DTC platform, Casa Rayos (rsp: £40/70cl) was developed in partnership with the Orendain family, the third-oldest tequila distilling family in the town of Tequila, Mexico, BrewDog said.
It offered “lime and orange citrus zest, underpinned by spicy cracked black pepper, pink peppercorn, and an earthy component”, and was designed to be drunk neat or mixed in cocktails including margaritas and palomas, it added.
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