CBP Professional Ethics & Standards 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A bourbon brand ambassador is offered a gift by a distributor in exchange for recommending their products exclusively. What is the ethical response?
- Accept if the gift is under $50 in value
- Decline and disclose the offer to your employer (Correct answer)
- Accept but continue recommending all products fairly
- Decline only if the gift is monetary
Correct answer: Decline and disclose the offer to your employer
Accepting gifts that influence product recommendations creates a conflict of interest; the ethical response is to decline and disclose the offer to maintain transparency.
Question 2: When a CBP professional discovers a colleague has been misrepresenting the age of a bourbon to customers, the most appropriate first step is to:
- Immediately report the colleague to regulators
- Confront the colleague privately and document the incident (Correct answer)
- Ignore it as it is not your responsibility
- Warn customers without telling the colleague
Correct answer: Confront the colleague privately and document the incident
Addressing the issue directly with the colleague first allows for correction while documenting the incident creates a record if the behavior continues.
Question 3: Under TTB regulations, which labeling claim on a bourbon bottle would violate ethical advertising standards?
- 'Aged 8 years in new charred oak containers'
- 'Bottled in Bond — 100 proof'
- 'The healthiest spirit choice for daily consumption' (Correct answer)
- 'Small batch Kentucky straight bourbon'
Correct answer: 'The healthiest spirit choice for daily consumption'
Health benefit claims for alcoholic beverages are prohibited under TTB regulations and constitute deceptive advertising.
Question 4: A certified bourbon professional serving as a judge in a competition has a financial interest in one of the entered distilleries. The ethical obligation is to:
- Judge the entry objectively using blind tasting protocols
- Recuse yourself from judging that distillery's entries (Correct answer)
- Disclose the interest but continue judging all entries
- Score the entry lower to avoid accusations of bias
Correct answer: Recuse yourself from judging that distillery's entries
Recusal from judging entries in which you have a financial interest is the only way to fully eliminate the conflict, regardless of stated objectivity.
Question 5: Which practice would be considered a violation of professional ethics for a CBP working in retail bourbon sales?
- Recommending a higher-priced bourbon when it genuinely suits a customer's taste preferences
- Steering customers toward brands that offer you personal commissions without disclosure (Correct answer)
- Suggesting food pairings for bourbons based on published tasting notes
- Declining to sell to a visibly intoxicated customer
Correct answer: Steering customers toward brands that offer you personal commissions without disclosure
Recommending products based on undisclosed personal financial incentives rather than the customer's needs is a breach of professional ethics.
Question 6: The Distilled Spirits Council's responsible advertising code requires that bourbon marketing primarily target:
- Adults 21 and older who are legal drinking age (Correct answer)
- Adults 25 and older to ensure full brain development
- Only existing bourbon consumers, not new adopters
- Audiences in states where bourbon is the top-selling spirit
Correct answer: Adults 21 and older who are legal drinking age
DISCUS guidelines require that spirits advertising be placed where at least 71.6% of the audience is of legal drinking age (21+).
Question 7: A CBP educator is asked to teach a master class sponsored by a single bourbon brand. Ethical best practice requires the educator to:
- Teach exclusively about the sponsoring brand's products
- Disclose the sponsorship to participants at the start of the class (Correct answer)
- Refuse all sponsored educational engagements
- Remove all competitor products from the tasting lineup without disclosure
Correct answer: Disclose the sponsorship to participants at the start of the class
Disclosing sponsorships allows participants to contextualize the information presented and make informed judgments about any potential bias.
CBP Professional Ethics & Standards 2
A bourbon brand ambassador is offered a gift by a distributor in exchange for recommending their products exclusively.
What is the ethical response?