George Clooney-founded Casamigos broke cardinal rule in tequila making, bombshell lawsuit says
In a bombshell class-action lawsuit, one of best-selling tequilas in the world, George Clooney's Casamigos, is being sued, accused of selling possibly fake tequila, to 'cut corners.'
Casamigos and Don Julio, both owned by spirit company Diageo, face allegations in a federal suit of using spirits other than tequila in their bottles, while the brands market themselves as 100% agave.
Diageo, the liquor giant that owns both brands, has slammed the claims, calling them 'categorically false.'
Tequila, which has to be exclusively made in the tequila region of Mexico from blue weber agave, can only be made of three ingredients: agave, water and yeast.
As DailyMail.com exclusively reported recently, tequila brands have been allowed to add 1% of additives like glycerin, caramel coloring, oak extract and sugar-based syrups.
While even the use of additives has been controversial because they're considered a short cut to the years-long process of crafting the Mexican drink, the filing out of New York, states that Casamigos and Don Julio sold 'adulterated' booze, possibly using cheap cane sugar instead of the 100% prized blue weber agave.
Meanwhile, the products are labeled as 'luxury' and 'premium,' with each bottle costing between $50 and $150 a piece.
'Tequila manufacturing requires the cultivation, fermentation, and distillation of Blue Weber Agave, and because this type of agave takes five to ten years to mature for harvest, this 'creates ongoing tension in the industry, as well as the temptation to cut corners,"' the demand reads.
Casamigos is the top celebrity-backed tequila in the world
A less pure vision of the alcohol - known as mixtos - can be sold, but they must be labeled as only having 51% agave and are much less expensive than tequila.
TEQUILA ADDITIVES
Glycerin: Chemical creates a fuller mouthfeel. Its heavy, oily texture can mask poor distillation by coating the molecules within the tequila.
Oak extract: Can be used to make tequila taste like it's been aged in an oak barrel for longer than it has.
Caramel coloring: Often used to create consistency in the color and flavor of aged products, like reposado or añejo tequila, from batch to batch.
Jarabes: Sugar-based syrups may include natural sweeteners like agave nectar or artificial ones, like aspartame or Splenda, to sweeten a product
Source: Jay Baer
Chaim Mishulovin, Avi Pusatezri, a New Yorker mixologist, and restaurant called Sushi Tokyo are the plaintiffs seeking $5 million each in damages from Diageo.
Casamigos, famously founded by George Clooney and Randy Gerber (married to super model Cindy Crawford), was sold to Diageo in a $1 billion deal.
However, Clooney, Gerber and even his super model wife are used to market the booze, with the Casamigos Jalepeno version marketed with the model's signature birth mark and lips.
While its celebrity connections have helped propel Casamigos to being the fourth-best selling tequila in the world, it is often bashed by experts for its terrible quality.
'The issue with celebrity tequila out there is that they're using unripe agave, mass producing it, and pumping it fill of artificial sweeteners just to make a buck,' declared Texas tequila coach Fonseca Aquinaga on his Instagram account.
The popularity of the brand means it has shortened the time it allows agave to mature and sweeten naturally in the earth so it can be pulled from the ground and turned into alcohol.
Tequila experts say larger operations outsource their blanco Tequila, buying it from a no-name mass producer before adding chemicals to it to make it taste like what their customers are used to.
Casamigos contains additives, as does Don Julio, although neither declare it on their packaging.
Other alcohol experts have entire reels where they plead with customers to stop wasting their money on both brands being sued.
'One of my friends is thinking about getting Don Julio blanco for $50. What do you think? I think you should get better friends. There are better choices than Don Julio Blanco, like so many better choices,' tequilajaybaer says in the clip.
The owner of both brands vows to fight the allegations in the lawsuit.
'These claims of adulteration are outrageous and categorically false; Don Julio and Casamigos tequilas are crafted from 100% Blue Weber Agave and are in full compliance with the official tequila standard,' Diageo said in a statement.
'We look forward to vigorously defending the quality and integrity of our Tequilas in court.'
If this case goes to trial, it may be the first time a tequila maker has to actually prove what in their product.
Right now, the only tequila regulator in Mexico is the Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT.)
The private organization is made up of tequila makers, with executives from the most profitable and big tequila brands holding the most power.
The CRT uses an honor system to regulate itself.
'There is a binder in every distillery where you write down if you put additives in the product or not. The CRT looks at the binder and signs off and moves on. They don't test or smell or anything,' tequila expert Grover Sanschagrin told Punch.
The Consejo Regulador del Tequila or CRT has opposed the 'additive-free' designation
The CRT, also known as the 'tequila cartel,' insiders tell DailyMail.com, do not like to be challenged.
Sanschagrins' website, which claims to be the most extensive tequila database in the world, catologues all the additive-free tequila, which he tested in his Guadalajara home.
Last year, his home was raided in the dead of night by Mexican federal authorities, according to Mexican media.
Armed police, with a warrant that included a complaint by the CRT, claimed that the Sanschagrins were using their home as an 'adulterated tequila factory.'
While no one was arrested, some bottles of tequila were seized.
Despite the push-back, consumers are learning about additive-free tequila and demanding it.
Big alcohol stores, like Total Wine, have now started to label tequila it sells as additive-free.
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