Syracuse University Puts the Kibosh on Local Distillery

One type of “Cuse” will soon no longer be on the loose. Lock 1 Distillery in Phoenix, New York has to stop producing and selling its “Cuse Juice” orange-flavored liqueur.

The Central New York spirits company received a cease-and-desist order from Syracuse University’s attorneys. The distillery’s owner, Brenden Backus, says the adult beverage was never concocted to represent Syracuse University, but the CITY of Syracuse. Even though he had applied for trademarks, he’d been blocked by SU three times, and says he lacks the funding to fight it in court.

Advertised with the slogan “Nectar of The Sun From the City That Sees None,” Cuse Juice is a 60-proof, vodka-based orange liqueur. Lock 1 had been marketing it as a perfect ingredient to make a “Cuse-mopolitan” or a “Cuse-sicle.”

The company also make vodkas, and whiskeys, and other spirits.

If you still want to buy a bottle of Cuse Juice, you’re in luck…for a while. Bars, restaurants, and retail liquor stores that have been carrying the product will still be able to continue selling it until supplies are gone. The distillery must rid itself of all bottles of the stuff by an October 1st deadline.

Backus says he expects demand will be high for the roughly 4,800 bottles of Cuse Juice remaining at the distillery. You can look for it at the 2019 New York State Fair.