'My Life Is A Lie': Old Monk Isn't 'Rum'? Why FSSAI's Claim Has Left Drinkers Stunned

(MENAFN- Live Mint) For generations of rum drinkers, Old Monk has simply been rum. But the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has now told the Bombay High Court that the popular alcoholic beverage cannot be sold as "rum" because it is made using neutral spirit and rum flavouring.

The regulator's counsel told the court on Thursday that its objection was not merely about the product's labelling but about the nature of the beverage itself.

"What is not permitted is to sell this product as rum," FSSAI 's counsel said. The regulator said the product could instead be described as a "rum-flavoured spirit".

And suddenly, for those who first discovered rum through Old Monk, a rather strange question emerges: Was everything we knew about our first rum wrong?

So, what exactly is rum?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines rum as "an alcoholic beverage distilled from a fermented cane product (such as molasses)".

For the famous Romantic poet Lord Byron, the definition was less technical and far more comforting. In his epic poem Don Juan, Byron wrote: "There's naught, no doubt, so much the spirit calms as rum and true religion."

So, rum has had its definitions, from the technical to the poetic. But the current Old Monk dispute is about whether a product containing neutral spirit and added rum flavouring can legally be sold as rum in India.

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This author, too, had his first rum in the form of Old Monk during college, in the company of friends who, like countless others, praised the spirit.

Old Monk wasn't merely a drink that appeared at college gatherings. It became part of conversations whenever this author met those friends later. It was one of those shared experiences that stayed with the group long after college ended.

So when FSSAI's position became known, this author spoke to one of those friends. His first reaction was disbelief: "Sab jhooth tha?" This friend has a habit of recording every event of his life that happened for the first time. "Now I no longer know, when I drank actual rum," he said.

Social media users were equally in disbelief amid FSSAI 's assertions. For a group that had spent years calling Old Monk rum, the regulator's description of it as a "rum-flavoured spirit" was difficult to process.

Why did FSSAI object to Old Monk?

The dispute goes beyond what is printed on the bottle. FSSAI told the HC that its laboratory tests found external artificial or nature-identical flavouring substances in the products. According to the regulator, these additives masked the beverages' natural characteristics.

The regulator cited the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations, 2018, which require standardised alcoholic beverages such as rum and whisky to retain their characteristic taste and aroma.

FSSAI argued that adding "rum flavour" to rum or "whisky flavour" to whisky misrepresents these standardised products.

Based on its findings, the regulator prohibited the sale of specific variants of McDowell's No. 1 Rum, Antiquity Blue Whisky and Royal Challenge Whisky manufactured by United Spirits; select Old Monk rum variants produced by Mohan Rocky Springwater; and Bagpiper Deluxe Whisky and Old Cask Deluxe XXX Rum made by Inbrew Beverages.

Also Read | Old Monk to HC: will drop '7 years old blended' from label What happened in the Bombay High Court?

The dispute over Old Monk's classification is also tied to its product labels. During a previous hearing on Monday, the company told the court it was prepared to modify its labels and remove the phrase "7 years old blended".

The division bench of acting Chief Justice Ravindra V Ghuge and Justice Gautam A. Ankhad directed the company to present a revised label.

The court also asked FSSAI to specify the details and requirements that needed to appear on the packaging so consumers could clearly distinguish the product. The state excise department was directed to review the modified label and expedite the approval process.

The bench observed that consumers could be misled into believing that the rum was aged for seven years. It also questioned the company over text on the label, noting that it was "so small that nobody can read [it]".

Old Monk submitted revised labels to the court on Thursday. FSSAI sought additional time to examine them and consider whether they could be approved. The matter will next be heard on September 11.

Old Monk maker says it is losing ₹1 crore a day

Senior counsel Navroz H Seervai, representing the company, told the court that it had suffered a loss of ₹1 crore per day for the 120 days that the ban had been in force, according to an earlier Mint report.

The Old Monk case is part of a broader dispute involving alcoholic beverages and FSSAI's objections to added flavouring.

United Spirits, which faced a similar ban, withdrew its case on August 24. Its parent company, Diageo, along with other liquor manufacturers, agreed to comply with FSSAI directives by either removing disputed flavouring agents or modifying product labels.

So, is Old Monk rum or a 'rum-flavoured spirit'?

For the regulator, the issue is that a standardised alcoholic beverage such as rum must retain its characteristic taste and aroma, and adding rum flavouring to a product does not meet that requirement.

For generations of drinkers, however, Old Monk has been their introduction to, and perhaps their most familiar idea of, rum.

Which brings us back to that college friend. For him, however, the regulatory distinction remains difficult to digest.

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