In April this year, the Portman Group upheld a complaint against Engine Organic Gin for claiming to have therapeutic qualities. Coldiretti, the association of agricultural entrepreneurs and farmers in Italy, along with Fileria Italia, an agriculture and industry alliance, condemned Cosa Nostra whisky and other products which use mafia imagery last week. The Group’s issuing of a Retailer Alert Bulletin (RAB) – its most severe sanction – came following a complaint from a member of the public and Bartex Bartol’s subsequent failure to comply with the Group’s decision.

If we decide not to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms, such decision shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. Join the Whiskey Raiders Bottle of the Month Club, where you will receive hard-to-find bottles curated by Whiskey Raiders staff with a 90+ rating on whiskeyraiders.com plus live virtual tastings. Sign up here! Breach of guidelines, namely that drinks “should not suggest any association with bravado, or with violent, aggressive, dangerous, anti-social or illegal behaviour” Complainant:

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It also said that the drink’s name, Cosa Nostra, was the name of a well-known faction of the Italian Mafia – further linking the whisky to violent behaviour and criminal activity. President of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini said: “The use of names alluding to the mafia is a business that causes serious damage to the image of Made in Italy by exploiting stereotypes related to mafia organisations, trivialising and quasi-normalising a phenomenon which has brought pain and grief across our country.” The complaint was upheld by the Portman Group’s Independent Complaints Panel, resulting in the most severe sanction as a result of the producer’s failure to comply. It was one of only seven issued between 2015 and 2020 and is the most serious sanciton the Portman Group can apply.

There were multiple and clear signs this product was in direct breach of the Code and unfortunately follows a complaint for a similar product by the same producer which the Panel upheld in 2014.We may sell, license, transfer, assign or in any other way dispose of the Service (including Members) to any third party without any notification to you, e.g. (but without limitation) in connection with any reorganization, restructuring, merger or sale, or other transfer of assets. UK industry watchdog Portman Group found that the shape of the bottle creates a direct link between the drink and a dangerous weapon. The Service has been prepared by us solely for information purposes to Members and the Service is based on information we consider reliable and we obtain the contents of the Service from a number of different third party sources (including Contributions), but we do not endorse, support, represent, warrant or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of the Services and any information therein.