Consumers Misled by Labeling of Ron Zacapa 23 Centenario Rum, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action alleges Ron Zacapa 23 Centenario buyers have been misled in that statements on the front label regarding the age of the rum do not disclose that the liquor is actually a blend of rums of different ages.

The 14-page lawsuit says consumers would need to read the fine print on the back label of Ron Zacapa Centenario rum to discover that the product, labeled prominently with the number 23, is in truth “derived from a blend of aged rums of between 6 and 23 years old.” Federal regulations require that age statements pertaining to alcohol relay the age of the youngest distilled spirit in the product, the complaint stresses.

“According to industry observers, most of the rum in the Product is closer to 6 years than 23,” the suit alleges.

Per the lawsuit, most premium rums are aged as this process mellows and improves their taste. Rum is typically aged in barrels previously used for whiskey or bourbon, or in highly charred new barrels, and the aging process leads the rum to develop a natural amber color, the suit says. Moreover, the alcohol in the rum brings out the esters from the wood barrels in which it’s aged, producing an infusion of spiciness and oak tones that grow more pronounced as the product continues to age, the case relays.

For buyers, the amount of time a rum is aged is of material importance given the aging process relates directly to a rum’s quality, according to the complaint. As such, statements of age on a rum’s label are to be based on the age of the youngest spirit, even when the final product has been blended with older spirits, the suit says. It is only in the fine print on the back label, however, that the defendant, Diageo North America, discloses the true ages of the rum, according to the complaint:

Moreover, the lawsuit says the maturing process for Ron Zacapa rum does not abide by the traditional solera aging method, by which liquids are aged by fractional blending such that the finish product is a mixture of ages, as the bottle’s label indicates. The suit claims the defendant’s use of the phrase “Sistema Solera” on product labels is “inconsistent with how this method is generally understood” in that, according to Diageo’s master blender, the company ages its rum via an adaptation of a Spanish sherry maturing process that sees the aging barrels changed every time a new mixture is realized.

“One industry executive—whose company produces a solera rum, noted that ‘the solera method ignores the subtleties and nuances of individual barrels,’” the lawsuit says, citing a prominent rum industry advocate who has criticized “solera” age statements on product labels as “a despicable, deceptive practice” that “should be condemned.”

Overall, while the Ron Zacapa rum leads buyers to believe that the product is 23 years old, this representation is misleading, the case claims, alleging the value of the liquor is materially less than what proposed class members have paid.

“Though rum is not required to state its age, if it does, it is required to be truthful and not misleading,” the suit says.

The case looks to represent Illinois residents who bought Ron Zacapa 23 Centenario rum within the applicable statute of limitations period.

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