Prime Saucepect

McIlhenny Company, which owns the Tabasco hot sauce brand has filed a lawsuit against Stoli after it launched its Halapeño Pepper flavored vodka in late 2025 that, clearly (for the most part), looks like Tabasco’s iconic bottle, with its red cap and green label on the neck. (The majority of other Stoli flavors have a gold cap so they went out of their way to make it red.) This is a case of “Trade Dress” infringement, where the overall look and feel, and not necessarily the details, is protected. Part of what makes this story extra spicy is that, in 2024, Tabasco and Stoli did explore a potential collaboration but Tabasco did not go for it and instead ended up teaming with Absolut, releasing Absolut Tabasco earlier this year. Stoli admits no wrongdoing and states that it “strongly dis