The makers of the popular rum brand Old Monk, Mohan Rocky Springwater, has informed the Bombay High Court that it is ready to relabel its product, removing the “7 years old blended” mention.
A division bench headed by acting Chief Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Gautam A. Ankhad, after hearing the arguments, asked the company to submit a reworked label by Thursday.
“I will in every single label blank out the line that states ‘7 years blend’,” senior counsel Navroz H. Seervai, appearing for the company, informed the court.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), through its counsel argued that Old Monk was made by adding rum flavour to neutral spirit rather than acquiring the natural characteristics of rum. It said they have acted in accordance with the law.
FSSAI had in June imposed restrictions on the sale of rum, requiring the company to label it as a “rum flavoured spirit”.
Bombay High Court noted that a consumer could be misled into thinking the rum had been aged for seven years. The court also questioned the alcoholic beverage maker about some of the text on the label, which was “so small that nobody can read”.
Further, the court directed FSSAI to specify the requirements and details that should be included in the label to clearly distinguish the product. It told the excise department to check the revised label and start the approval procedure on an urgent basis.
Old Monk, besides stating that it was willing to immediately submit revised labels and remove the reference to “7 years old blended”. They also highlighted that they have suffered a loss of ₹1 crore per day for 120 days of the ban.
Earlier this month, FSSAI prohibited the sale of several rum and whisky brands. The ban came over the use of non-permitted flavours and age-related claims.
The regulator has directed the manufacturers to disclose the true nature of such products on their labels.
The action covers several brands owned by Diageo India, including McDowell’s No. 1 Rum, Bagpiper Deluxe Whisky, Old Cask Deluxe XXX Rum, Central Province Whisky, McDowell’s No. 1 Celebration Matured XXX Rum, Antiquity Blue Whisky and Royal Challenge Whisky.