MUMBAI: Old Monk, one of India’s best-known liquor brands, is facing a regulatory challenge over whether certain variants can continue to be marketed and sold as rum.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has told the Bombay High Court that Old Monk cannot be labelled as rum because the product is made using neutral spirit along with rum flavouring. According to the food safety regulator, the product would be more appropriately described as a “rum-flavoured spirit”.
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The issue came up before a division bench comprising acting chief justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and justice Gautam A. Ankhad after the manufacturer submitted revised labels for the affected products. FSSAI has sought additional time to examine the modified packaging and determine whether it meets the applicable requirements. The matter is scheduled to return before the court on 11 September.
The dispute also centres on claims and descriptions used on Old Monk packaging. During an earlier hearing, the company agreed to remove the phrase “7 years old blended” from its labels. The court had raised concerns that the wording could give consumers the impression that the rum itself had been aged for seven years.
The court had also asked FSSAI to clearly specify the information and requirements that should appear on the revised packaging to ensure that consumers are not misled. The state excise department was directed to examine the revised label and expedite the approval process.
The company’s senior counsel, Navroz H. Seervai, told the court that the business had incurred losses of approximately Rs 1 crore per day during the 120-day ban imposed on the products.
The broader dispute follows laboratory testing conducted by FSSAI, which identified external artificial or nature-identical flavouring substances in the alcoholic beverages under scrutiny. The regulator argues that such additives may alter or mask the characteristics expected from standardised alcoholic beverages.
FSSAI has based its position on the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations, 2018, which prescribe specific characteristics for standardised categories such as rum and whisky. Its contention is that products sold as rum should possess the characteristic taste and aroma associated with rum. Similarly, the use of whisky flavouring in a product marketed as whisky could, in the regulator’s view, amount to misrepresentation.
The action extends beyond Old Monk. Products named in the regulatory proceedings include selected variants of McDowell’s No. 1 Rum, Antiquity Blue Whisky and Royal Challenge Whisky manufactured by United Spirits; certain Old Monk variants made by Mohan Rocky Springwater; and Bagpiper Deluxe Whisky and Old Cask Deluxe XXX Rum manufactured by Inbrew Beverages.
The regulatory action has also triggered changes across the spirits industry. United Spirits withdrew its case on 24 August, while Diageo and other liquor manufacturers agreed to comply with FSSAI’s directions by either removing the disputed flavouring substances or changing product labels.
For Old Monk, the immediate issue is whether its revised packaging will receive regulatory approval or whether the product will ultimately have to be marketed under a different description. The next hearing on 11 September is expected to provide further clarity.
