An interesting bit to me is that even ultra-traditional distilleries have by now accepted that color can be matched through nontraditional means, and that doesn't seem to cause much trouble. Even single-malt Scotch, otherwise quite strictly regulated, permits artificial color additive E150 (but no other additives).

Admittedly color is probably comparatively easy to fake convincingly, especially in a uniform liquid setting where the color perception is not so complex. But that it's accepted even at the expensive "purist" levels does seem like already a chink in the armor of the idea that the only right way to do it is with a fully traditional method. A fully traditional method of coloring would leave it to whatever color is picked up from the mash and barrel-aging, and I could imagine someone arguing that only in that way do the aromas/flavors/colors subtly "match" properly. But it seems not to be seen as an issue.