Last May, drinks giant Diageo was hit with a lawsuit claiming that the company sold “adulterated tequila” to consumers that was labeled as 100 percent agave under its Casamigos and Don Julio brands. Diageo denied these allegations and that lawsuit is still pending, but today there was news about another suit from a different plaintiff alleging the same type of adulteration.
The original lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York by three parties: New Jersey resident Avi Pusateri, New York bartender Chaim Mishulovin who runs the Jazz Age Cocktails Instagram account, and Brooklyn restaurant and bar Sushi Tokyo Inc. The trio’s class action lawsuit, which seeks $5 million in damages, claims that Diageo falsely labeled bottles of Casamigos and Don Julio as being made from 100 percent agave when they actually had “significant concentrations of cane or other types of alcohol rather than pure tequila” and that they “paid super-premium prices… but they received neither a premium product nor 100 percent Blue Weber agave tequila.”
According to guidelines set by the CRT, the governing body that regulates tequila in Mexico, a product labeled 100 percent agave must be made only from Blue Weber agave. While that tequila can legally contain less than one percent by volume of additives to enhance flavor, color, and texture, it cannot contain the cane or other sugar-derived alcohols that the lawsuit mentions—that would classify it as a mixto, which cannot be labeled 100 percent agave.
The new lawsuit, which alleges RICO violations, was filed in San Francisco by California resident Jacqueline Jackson and it includes lab results of testing on four Diageo tequilas, according to the website Mezcalistas. Specifically, the suit says that a sample of Casamigos Blanco contained just 33 percent ethanol derived from agave, and a sample of the Reposado expression contained about 42 percent ethanol derived from agave—levels that fall below the 51 percent that is required even for a mixto. Additionally, the suit claims lab results found similar low levels of ethanol derived from agave in samples of Don Julio Blanco and 1942 Anejo.
We reached out to Diageo for comment, and received the following statement from a Diageo spokesperson: “These claims of adulteration are outrageous and categorically false; Don Julio and Casamigos Tequilas are crafted from 100% Blue Weber Agave and, following a rigorous certification process by the CRT, are in full compliance with the official tequila standard (NOM). We will vigorously defend the quality and integrity of our Tequilas in court, and against anyone who is spreading misinformation and lies about our products.”
Authors
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Jonah Flicker