In its official statement to the Bombay High Court, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has clarified that the iconic brand of Indian liquor, Old Monk, cannot be sold under the heading of rum. According to this regulatory body, Old Monk does not qualify for being categorized as rum because of the fact that it uses neutral spirits.
What FSSAI Actually Argued?
FSSAI’s counsel clarified before the court that this isn’t simply a labelling dispute. According to the regulator, the core issue lies in the fundamental composition of the drink itself. Since Old Monk is largely built on neutral spirit blended with rum flavouring, the authority believes it should instead be classified and sold as a rum flavoured spirit, not as rum in the true sense.
The “7 Years Old” Claim Under Scrutiny
The dispute doesn’t end at classification. FSSAI has also objected to Old Monk’s long standing “7 years old blended” label, pointing out that matured rum spirit reportedly makes up less than 5 percent of the total blend. The regulator contends that this kind of labelling creates a false impression among consumers that the entire bottle has been aged for seven years, when that isn’t the case.
Impact on Sales and Other Brands
The controversy has already had real consequences. The sale of Old Monk appears to have been suspended in the state of Maharashtra, the company being reported to be making losses of nearly one crore rupees every single day due to this. There are several other alcohol companies that have redesigned their packaging to suit these rules and regulations and the manufacturer of Old Monk too has done this but not before the larger issue regarding its classification of rum pending in the courts of law has been sorted out.
So What Separates Rum From Whisky
What really differentiates one drink from the other is what most consumers do not really care about. While rum is distilled from by-products of sugarcane like molasses and aged to get its typical taste and coloring, whisky is a result of fermentation and distillation of grains like barley, corn or rye. The categorisation really depends on the raw material used and the amount of aged spirit contained in it, which is where FSSAI feels that Old Monk lacks.
What Happens Next
For now, the matter remains before the Bombay High Court, with the case raising a much larger question about how spirits are labelled and sold across the Indian liquor market, and whether other iconic brands could face similar scrutiny in the future.
Disclaimer: Alcohol Is Injurious To Health, We Don’t Promote It.
Khushi Patel is a Senior Sub Editor at NewsX, covering automotive, technology, Lifestyle, entertainment, and mainstream news. She previously worked as a Copy Editor at Times Network and has written automotive editorial content, including comparison pieces, for TimesDrive.
