Welcome to the weekend! We are officially in August now which seems like we are entering the beginning of the end of the summer. We still have plenty of time to enjoy the summer weather even though the calendar says that fall is slowly approaching. It’s extra difficult to remember that we have so much summer left when pumpkin spice has already hit the coffee shops and the Halloween decorations have already shoved any flip-flops off of the shelves, but I digress.

This week we’re looking at how the class action lawsuits that were filed over a year ago now are impacting the sales of some of the implicated brands and of course other interesting booze news.

How The Spirits Giant Has Rebranded Their Failures As Successes

If you’ve been with us for a while you know that we have covered the news of multiple tequila brands being accused of falsely advertising their products as 100% agave. There were a number of different brands, that by using stable isotope analysis, were accused of containing non-agave derived sources of ethanol. These brands all claimed to be 100% agave and were brought to court for class action lawsuits. The first two brands that we reported on were Casamigos and Don Julio, both of which are owned by Diageo.

After their initial denial of wrong doing, Diageo moved to have the cases against them dismissed. As of May of this year there are no updates on whether the judge will rule for or against dismissal in the original suits. The case was originally filed in May of 2025.

In their annual earning report Diageo announced plans to execute cost saving measures in order to make up for the modest overall losses that it experienced for the fiscal year. Diageo reported a 2% drop in organic net sales for the fiscal year ending in June 2026, mainly citing a drop in the US spirits market. They also reported an increase in operating profit by 2% due to cost savings. The company plans on leveraging this and rolled out plans to continue on its efforts to save on costs delivered by 2027-2028 fiscal years. After the announcement the company saw a 4% increase in shares which is significant because shares in the company were halved from 2022 to 2025 and have dropped another 13% since.

Back to the tequila part: one of our favorite sources, Mezcalistas, posted to their Instagram and sent me down this rabbit hole to begin with.

The caption is what got me going on this whole thing. Tequila drinkers are leading the push on being knowledgeable consumers in the spirits world. We’ve seen how the additive free movement in tequila has started spilling into other spirits categories simply because consumers know what to look for now when shopping around. I don’t think anyone can be shocked that a spirit company as giant as Diageo is able to spin the massive losses in its two biggest tequila brands into something that is no fault of their own, but it is a reminder that we as consumers carry the burden of staying informed on the real ‘why’ behind loss of support for these brands.

James B. Beam Distilling Co. Opens Call to Creators

We continue to see a rise in creative media like podcasts and their video counterparts and now there are companies that are hoping to leverage some competitive edge by crossing over into that space however possible. Sometimes this doesn’t even require any of the creative energy, just the capitol to make space. In a press release by Suntory Global Spirits, the owners of James B. Beam Distilling Co., they announced the opening of a Creator Campus in Claremont, Kentucky.

The space won’t be open to just anyone of course, it will take an application and proof of concept in order to be invited to the campus. The appeal is understandable, those selected will get to utilize space at a beautiful and expansive location and will be given access to exclusive tastings and dinners put on by the distillery. The press release states: “The initiative reflects JBBDCo.'s ongoing commitment to craftsmanship, hospitality and bringing people together through meaningful experiences.”

There is an inherent link between drinking and creativity so it seems pretty genius to offer space this way. There is a natural symbiosis at work here that seems to fit perfectly with what is being proposed. Of course the move is also very strategic on Suntory’s part, they have built in their sponsorship to whatever creatives are taken under their wing and thus are curating a new wave of advertisers. They now can hand select creators that expand their reach into spaces that they may not have thought to advertise in before.

The World Is Learning How to Drink Smarter

According to data released by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s (IHME) Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, with analysis conducted by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD) global alcohol related deaths dropped by 26% since 2010. This is a huge drop in alcohol attributable deaths and at the very least shows that we aren’t completely hopeless as a species.

The drops have been tracked across multiple categories and are believed to be related to the adoption of baseline recommendations in 2010 by members of the United Nations. Although there isn’t a singular cause that has contributed to this drop it is believed that improvements in healthcare, public health initiatives, changing drinking patterns, and socioeconomic developments have all cumulatively moved the needle.

Even though we may lament, as an industry, the drop in people drinking in public spaces like bars and restaurants this is a wonderful silver lining. There is also a lot to be said about the accessibility of information in 2026 as opposed to 2010. We know so much more about what we drink but also how much we are actually drinking as individuals. We may at times be burdened with too much information to sort through but overall the increase in knowledge about alcohol consumption has led to more intentional drinkers that seek out quality over quantity more often than ever before.

A short and sweet recap of which brands were named in these lawsuits and why. It is important to note that there are separate cases filed for each brand (other than Don Julio and Casamigos which were the first filings and made together) but that none of these cases have been officially dismissed or settled yet. If you’re interested in all of the coverage we have done on these lawsuits make sure you check out our archive under the tag: adulteration scandal.

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