The maker of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky has been sued for fraud for selling a beverage that, at a glance, looks like the spicy Fireball spirit famed for its ubiquity at college parties, but which doesn’t actually contain much of a key ingredient: whisky.
The malt beverage in dispute, called “Fireball Cinnamon,” has a lower alcohol content than its whisky-based cousin and can be sold at grocery stores and gas stations across the country. It comes in multiple sizes.
The plaintiff, Anna Marquez of Chicago, said in the lawsuit that she bought Fireball Cinnamon unaware that it was a different product from the whisky she expected. Ms. Marquez “is like many consumers of alcoholic beverages who prefers distilled spirits or products containing distilled spirits to malt-based beverages,” said the lawsuit, which was filed this month in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois. Ms. Marquez is seeking more than $5 million.
The Sazerac Company, which makes both beverages, does not comment on ongoing litigation, a company spokeswoman said. On the company’s website, a frequently asked questions page for Fireball Cinnamon says that the malt beverage, unlike the whisky, can be sold at 170,000 stores in the United States that are allowed to sell beer and wine but not spirits.
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Malt beverages, such as hard seltzers and wine coolers, have a fermented base and are usually flavored. The Sazerac Company said on its website that the malt-based Fireball Cinnamon was 33 proof and that the Fireball Cinnamon Whisky was 66 proof.
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The lawsuit said that the Sazerac Company's representations of Fireball
Fireball
It is bottled at 33% alcohol by volume (66 U.S. proof). According to the official Fireball website, the product was developed in Canada in the mid-1980s, and for a long time was little known outside of Canada.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Fireball_Cinnamon_Whisky
Cinnamon were “false and misleading” and that the bottles “appear similar” to Fireball Cinnamon Whisky bottles. Both bottles have a red cap, a yellow label with the word “Fireball” and a logo featuring a fire-breathing, dragon-like creature in red.
The problem arose in January 2023 when a Chicago woman named Anna Marquez filed a lawsuit alleging that she purchased a bottle of Fireball Cinnamon expecting to receive a whiskey-based libation and instead she discovered what she purchased was ultimately a malt liqueur-based beverage that contained no whiskey at all.
Smaller bottles of Fireball do not contain whiskey, but a blend of malt beverage, wine and additional flavors and colors. Customers are suing the company for fraud, alleging the packaging is misleading.
The class-action lawsuit, which was filed by Marquez earlier this month, alleges that the labeling on the small 99-cent bottles of Fireball Cinnamon look misleadingly similar to the labeling on bottles of its other product, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky.
Does Fireball Still Contain Propylene Glycol (PG)? All versions of Fireball, both in the U.S. and the rest of the world, are 100% PG (propylene glycol) free.
Fireball Whisky is being pulled from shelves in Europe because it contains too much propylene glycol – an additive that prevents evaporation and is a stabilizer in foods. But it's not going anywhere in the United States.
The difference between the two drinks is that Fireball Cinnamon is actually a malt-based beverage with 16.5% alcohol by volume (ABV), while Fireball Cinnamon Whisky is whisky-based and has an ABV of 33%.
It's cheap and weak so no one orders a single shot of Fireball. And since it's only ever consumed in excess, it inspires ridiculously drunk behavior—like peeing in public and starting fights with the bouncer. Hate to break it to you, Fireball, but no good story ever started with "Well, we were drinking Fireball..."
Drinkers the world over let out a collective gasp this week when Fireball Cinnamon Whisky was recalled in some European countries for containing what regulators deemed an unsafe level of propylene glycol—a chemical found in antifreeze.
It's a 33% ABV (66-proof) liqueur made with a mix of Canadian whiskey, sweeteners and natural cinnamon flavoring. But is it whiskey? Well, no, not really. Technically speaking, once you add sugar to a spirit and lower its ABV it becomes a liqueur rather than a spirit.
Surprise! Those mini-bottles of Fireball Cinnamon at gas stations don't actually have any whisky in them. A class-action lawsuit has been filed in Cook County, Illinois against the makers of Fireball Cinnamon over what the plaintiff alleges is purposefully misleading packaging.
In 1989, Sazerac acquired several brands from Seagram. The Benchmark (bourbon) eventually changing its name from "Benchmark" to McAfee's Benchmark, Eagle Rare (Kentucky straight bourbon), Nikolai (vodka), Dr. McGillicuddy's, (liqueur) and Fireball Whisky, which was rebranded as Fireball Cinnamon Whisky in 2007.
Fireball Cinnamon Whisky is a mixture of Canadian whisky, cinnamon flavoring and sweeteners that is produced by the Sazerac Company. Its foundation is Canadian whisky, and the taste otherwise resembles the candy with a similar name, Ferrara Candy Company's "Atomic Fireball" candy.
► Contact can irritate the skin and eyes. ► Propylene Glycol can cause nausea and vomiting. ► Exposure can cause headache, dizziness, lightheadedness, and passing out.
Propylene glycol is an ingredient in the increasingly popular liquor Fireball Cinnamon Whisky. Its propylene glycol content is compliant with the Food and Drug Administration regulations stipulating that propylene glycol is allowable in amounts of up to 5% of the overall content of alcoholic beverages.
The maker of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky has been sued for fraud for selling a beverage that, at a glance, looks like the spicy Fireball spirit famed for its ubiquity at college parties, but which doesn't actually contain much of a key ingredient: whisky.
Fireball was recalled due to concerns it contained an ingredient used in antifreeze. This ingredient is propylene glycol, otherwise known as part of the mixture used to de-ice airplanes. In 2014, Fireball was recalled in European countries because propylene glycol levels were deemed too high.
Drinkers the world over let out a collective gasp this week when Fireball Cinnamon Whisky was recalled in some European countries for containing what regulators deemed an unsafe level of propylene glycol—a chemical found in antifreeze.
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