Timeline and Next Steps
AMBRu’s next steps follow Recognition to Revenue (September 2026): open the public question, gather producers, put a trail on a map, and only later ask whether formal recognition should be sought. This page is not a TTB petition, not a certification, and not a jobs or export forecast.
A category that cannot be named cannot be defended, taught, or toured at scale. Recognition first. Then discovery, visitation, and economic opportunity.
Timeline
AMBRu has a long-term objective: recognition of American Brandy and American Rum as distinctive products of the United States. That is a question, not a filing. As of September 2026, no TTB petition has been filed.
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2020 — AMBRu Campaign co-founded.
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14 April 2026 — History and trail framework presented at the American Distilling Institute.
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17 August 2026 — Conversation continued at the Rum Summit in Miami Beach.
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September 2026 — Recognition to Revenue published for public comment.
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Now — Invite comment. Begin mapping a producer-led American Brandy & Rum Trail that no single company owns.
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Next — Find where producers agree and where they do not. Later working papers may take up definitions.
Challenges
The work is harder than a filing calendar. These are the problems AMBRu is willing to name:
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The name is still borrowed. American brandy and American rum are often described with other countries’ sentences.
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No single company can settle the definition. If American is going to mean something, producers have to help write it.
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A history with no map stays on a shelf. Recognition without places to visit does not become a trail.
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Washington is not the first stop. Ask first. Agree next. Regulate last.
Market figures and context, not a claim
Published brandy and rum market numbers, Bourbon’s economic reports, and export totals describe industries that already have a name people can find. They are the league these spirits are measured against. They are not AMBRu’s forecast, and they are not the result of a petition.
AMBRu does not treat designation as a switch that creates a $5–6 billion industry, 5,000–10,000 jobs, or $1 billion in exports.
What to do now
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Read and comment on Recognition to Revenue.
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Join the campaign at ambru.org.
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Connect a distillery, farm, or place to the trail idea.
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Tell us where the paper is wrong.
The test is not applause in a room. The test is whether the sentence survives the speaker.
Sources:
- TTB Alcohol Manual
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DISCUS and ASMWC Toast to TTB Final Rule Establishing Official American Single Malt Whiskey Category – www.distilledspirits.org
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Federal Register : Addition of American Single Malt Whisky to the Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits – www.federalregister.gov
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eCFR :: 27 CFR Part 5 Subpart I — Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits – www.ecfr.gov
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Alcohol Marketing 2025 Trends and Forecast – www.ohbev.com
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Distilled Spirits Labeling: Brand Name | TTB: Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau – www.ttb.gov
Author: caro
Caroline Porsiel is co-founder of the AMBRu Campaign and author of the Recognition to Revenue framework, working to advance recognition of American Brandy and American Rum and build a national American Brandy & Rum Trail.