No Actual Whiskey In Mini Fireball Bottles: Chicago Woman's Lawsuit

CHICAGO — A Chicago woman has filed a class action lawsuit against a New Orleans-based beverage company, complaining that the cinnamon-flavored liquor she has become accustomed to drinking and has purchased in miniature bottles at a local store contains no whiskey.

Anna Marquez filed the suit in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois recently, claiming that the Sazerac Company, which produces Fireball Whisky, was packaging cinnamon-flavored beverages into 99 cent mini-bottles that were sold at local convenience stores and misrepresenting the product as being actual Fireball Whisky.

Marquez maintains in the lawsuit that Sazerac company officials misled consumers by placing labels on the bottles that seem identical to the whiskey product. However, upon closer inspection, the cheaper mini bottles did not include the word “whisky” after the word cinnamon, marking the difference between the two products in what Marquez calls a "clever turn of phrase."

In the lawsuit, Marquez says the difference in bottles is one most customers won’t detect and claims the apparent sleight of hand is intentional on the company’s part, making it seem as if the customer is getting a bargain for less than $1.

The bottle not including the word ‘whisky’, the suit says, is instead a malt beverage that is flavored to taste like Sazerac’s Fireball product.

“Unlike whisky, which is a distilled spirit, a malt beverage is based on fermentation to create a neutral base to which flavors and colors may be added,” the lawsuit states.

In the lawsuit, Marquez says she would have never purchased the product if she knew it did not contain whiskey.

“While federal and identical state regulations allow the Product’s use of the distilled spirit brand name of Fireball, they prohibit the overall misleading impression created as to “Fireball Cinnamon” version.

Marquez said that the Sazerac Company used the clever phrasing to portray the non-whisky as containing alcohol by saying the product is a “malt beverage with natural whisky and other colors and caramel color.”

“What the label means to say is that the Product contains “Natural Whisky Flavors & Other Flavors,” but by not including the word “Flavors” after “Natural Whisky,” purchasers who look closely will expect the distilled spirit of whisky was added as a separate ingredient,” the lawsuit states.

On the company’s website, Sazerac offers an explanation for the difference in products.

"Over the years, we have received feedback from consumers wanting to purchase Fireball in a wider variety of convenient shopping locations, including stores that can only sell beer, malt beverages and wine products," the website states. "In order to meet this demand, we developed a great tasting malt beverage and an excellent wine-based product under the Fireball Cinnamon brand name."

Sazerac officials declined comment on the lawsuit, citing the active litigation.

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