United Spirits (McDowell's, Royal Challenge, Antiquity): FSSAI record

United Spirits, the maker of McDowell's, Royal Challenge and Antiquity, was named in the same set of FSSAI orders as Old Monk, which a PIB release of 2 Aug 2026 listed. Trade reports date the Baramati order to 29 Jun 2026. The orders prohibited the sale of McDowell's No.1 Rum produced at USL's Baramati unit and of Antiquity Blue and Royal Challenge produced at a USL unit in Madhya Pradesh. FSSAI's stated grounds were that flavouring had been added to neutral spirit, which it says is inconsistent with selling the product as rum or whisky, and that age claims on labels were not substantiated.

A separate order in the same batch covered McDowell's Celebration produced by Associated Alcohol in Madhya Pradesh, a third-party bottler rather than USL itself. Orders also went to Inbrew for Bagpiper Deluxe and Old Cask and to Associated Alcohol for Central Province Whisky.

Each order names a facility and a variant; none withdraws a brand from sale across India. Whether USL has obtained a court order, as Mohan Meakin sought in the Bombay High Court, is not recorded in the sources held here. No safety allegation was made.