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Old Monk and the FSSAI 'flavoured rum' orders: what was ordered, what the courts did

By Blacklisted editorial team· Updated [object Ob

In short

In June and July 2026 FSSAI's regional office issued prohibition orders against named rum and whisky variants from named plants, saying added flavouring meant they could not be sold as plain 'rum' or 'whisky'. Old Monk from Khopoli was one. The Bombay High Court refused a stay, Mohan Meakin agreed to drop '7 Years Old Blended' and add 'Flavoured Rum', and a hearing on 11 September 2026 was to review the labels. We could not find a report of what happened at that hearing.

The short version

Old Monk is not banned in India. A prohibition order stopped fresh manufacture and sale of three Old Monk variants made at one plant in Khopoli, Maharashtra, and the Bombay High Court declined to suspend that order. The fight is about a word on the label: whether a spirit with added flavouring can be called "rum". Similar orders against United Spirits and Associated Alcohols ended differently, one revoked, one stayed. Details below, with the gaps marked.

What FSSAI found

FSSAI's case rests on the Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations, 2018, and specifically regulation 1.3.7 on flavouring (being verified) Its position, set out in court, was that Old Monk's main component is neutral, unmatured spirit, that matured rum spirit makes up less than 5 per cent of the blend, and that artificial and nature-identical rum flavour is added. In FSSAI's words, flavouring substances "alter the true identity of the product, thereby rendering the product substandard". Its remedy was a name: such a product should be labelled "Flavoured Rum" or "Premix Rum", not "Rum", and the disclosure of added flavour should be easy to find on the pack. It also objected to "7 Years Old Blended", because an age claim must refer to the youngest spirit in the blend.

FSSAI said publicly on 3 August 2026 that there is no general prohibition on flavouring in spirits; the orders targeted flavouring that mimics the product's own character, rum flavour in rum, whisky flavour in whisky.

The orders

The orders came from the Designated Officer at FSSAI's Western Regional Office under section 36(3)(b) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, with sections 33 and 34 also cited in the petitions. The dates in the record are a prohibition order of 29 June 2026 and a conditional prohibition order of 27 July 2026 (LiveLaw and Free Press Journal); trade press also reports a notice of 10 July 2026 and a directive of 29 July 2026 against Associated Alcohols. Some reports date the orders 3 August 2026, which appears to be the date of FSSAI's public statement rather than of the orders (being verified)

Products and plants named across the reports:

Mohan Rocky Springwater (Mohan Meakin), Khopoli, Maharashtra: Old Monk The Legend, Old Monk Gold Reserve, Old Monk XXX Matured Rum.

United Spirits, Baramati, Maharashtra: McDowell's No.1 Celebration Matured Rum. United Spirits, Madhya Pradesh: Royal Challenge and Antiquity Blue whisky.

Associated Alcohols and Breweries, Madhya Pradesh: Central Province Whisky and McDowell's No.1 Celebration Rum made under contract.

Inbrew Beverages, Madhya Pradesh: Bagpiper Deluxe Whisky and Old Cask Deluxe XXX Rum.

The orders halted fresh manufacture and sale from those plants. Existing stock, on the Free Press Journal's account, could be cleared after relabelling as "Rum Flavoured Spirit". Bottles from other plants were not covered, which is why Old Monk stayed on shelves in most of the country while "banned in Maharashtra" headlines ran (being verified)

United Spirits: challenge, then revocation

United Spirits filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court on 1 August 2026 (Writ Petition 10196 of 2026), saying its labels complied with the law and industry practice. On 7 August a bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad adjourned to 10 August for the Attorney General to appear; counsel for the companies told the court the action had shut down 30 per cent of the Indian-made foreign liquor industry, and the bench remarked that "everything can't be shut down overnight". On 10 to 11 August the court declined interim relief to both United Spirits and Mohan Meakin, saying the question was compliance, not product quality, and listed the matter for 24 August.

The United Spirits story then ended out of court. FSSAI revoked its order against the Baramati rum on 17 August 2026 after the company agreed to reformulate and relabel certain products, and United Spirits withdrew its petition, telling the stock exchanges there was no material financial impact.

Associated Alcohols: stay in Madhya Pradesh

Associated Alcohols filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court on 31 July 2026, and on 12 August 2026 that court stayed FSSAI's orders against its whisky and rum. A stay pauses the order while the case is heard. It is not a ruling on the merits, and it applies to those two products. We have not found how Inbrew responded (being verified)

Old Monk: the Bombay High Court hearings

Mohan Meakin's petition ran on alongside United Spirits' and continued after it. On 31 August and 1 September 2026 the bench questioned the "7 Years Old Blended" claim, directed FSSAI to spell out what the label must say, told the state excise department to expedite approval of a revised label, and asked the company to submit a redesigned label in digital form. Mohan Meakin agreed to remove the seven-year claim. Excise officials said label approval normally takes 15 to 45 days.

On 7 September 2026 FSSAI filed its affidavit: Old Monk cannot be sold as "Rum" under its current label and must carry "Flavoured or Premix Rum". The company, appearing as Mohan Rocky Springwater, agreed to add "Added Flavour" or "Flavoured Rum" and to drop the age claim, and submitted three modified labels "without prejudice", meaning it would withdraw them if FSSAI rejected them rather than concede the case. It asked for a stay and for permission to sell stock already made. The bench refused, reasoning that interim relief of that kind would amount to granting the final relief. The Additional Solicitor General asked for time to examine the labels. Reports differ on the next date: one says 8 September before an urgent board, most say 11 September 2026.

The 11 September 2026 hearing and after

We searched for a report of the 11 September hearing and did not find one. LiveLaw's Bombay High Court round-up for 7 to 13 September records that FSSAI told the court Old Monk cannot be sold as rum because it contains additional flavours, and that the court "permitted the manufacturers to modify the product label accordingly". That is consistent with the 7 September position and does not say whether the revised labels were approved, whether sale from Khopoli resumed, or whether the prohibition order was lifted. As of 20 September 2026 we treat the position as: order in force, no stay, relabelling under way, outcome of the 11 September hearing, being verified

What it means if you buy Old Monk

Bottles already in shops are legal to sell in most states; check the bottler's address on the label to see whether it is from Khopoli. Nothing in the case says the rum is unsafe. The change you should expect is a label that says "Flavoured Rum" or "Added Flavour" and no longer says "7 Years Old Blended". If the pack you hold says both "Rum" and nothing about flavour, it predates the case.

Sources

Researched and written by The Blacklisted team
We are not doctors or pharmacists. Everything on this page comes from the documents listed above, which you can open and check. Last checked [object Ob. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.