India's food safety regulator has moved to prohibit the sale of several Diageo-owned brands in the country, with United Spirits' Royal Challenge Whisky and McDowell's No.1 Rum among those caught in the ban over the presence of added flavourings. For Diageo, this is a significant hit: India is one of its most critical volume markets, and both Royal Challenge and McDowell's are mass-market pillars. The flavouring issue puts the company in the uncomfortable position of defending products that sit at the heart of how spirits are made and sold in India's domestic category, where such additions have long been standard practice. How quickly Diageo can respond, reformulate, or challenge the ruling will determine how much shelf space it loses in the interim.
Elsewhere, the spirits industry has been getting on with business. La Martiniquaise-Bardinet has acquired Lamb's rum from Pernod Ricard's Canadian subsidiary Corby for CA$39.2 million, split with a Quebec-based alcohol firm. Lamb's is a heritage rum brand with solid distribution, and the deal fits La Martiniquaise's pattern of picking up established names that multinationals no longer consider core to their portfolio. At US$28 million, it's not a headline-grabbing sum, but it's a tidy acquisition for a group that knows exactly what to do with a brand that just needs attentive ownership rather than a complete reinvention.
On the whisky side, the week has been notably busy
House of Hazelwood has released the latest entry in its Legacy Collection: a 1992 vintage blended malt Scotch drawing from distilleries along the River Spey. A 34-year-old blended malt in this price tier is a clear play at collectors and connoisseurs who want age and provenance without committing to a single distillery name. The Legacy Collection has been building quietly, and a release anchored in 1992 gives it a specific, verifiable story to tell.
The American Whiskey Masters 2026 results are also in, and the category continues to reward anyone willing to look past the obvious names. The tasting panel flagged a diverse field with a couple of genuine surprises among the medallists, which reflects where American whiskey sits right now: deep enough that any given competition can surface producers most buyers haven't heard of yet. Related to that, Stetson has entered bourbon with its first namesake expression, developed with Lofted Spirits' master blender Dan Callaway. Lifestyle brand extensions into spirits are a well-worn path with a mixed track record, but leaning on a credible blender and launching into a category with real consumer momentum at least suggests some seriousness about the liquid.
Kavalan, meanwhile, has re-entered the Israeli market through a new partnership with distributor Eurostandart, bringing its core range back to a territory it had previously exited. The Taiwanese distillery has spent years methodically building global distribution, and returning to a market rather than walking away from it permanently says something about where Kavalan thinks its long-term footprint belongs. For Israeli whisky buyers, it means the King Car flagship is back on the shelf.
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