Michael Jordan’s Cincoro Tequila Accused of Adulteration in Class Action Lawsuit

(Photo: Cincoro Tequila)

A class action lawsuit filed last week accuses Cincoro Tequila, co-owned by six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan, of containing less than 100% Blue Weber agave. It’s the latest in a series of potentially explosive allegations lobbed at major tequila brands including Don Julio and Casamigos.

In a filing submitted to the Southern District Court of Florida, Nabil Haschemie claims that they purchased a bottle of Cincoro Blanco at Total Wine under the impression that it was premium, unadulterated tequila. According to Haschemie, laboratory testing later revealed that the product contained “material amounts” of ethanol not derived from agave plants. Haschemie did not disclose which type of ethanol was allegedly used, nor the exact quantity.

Since its inception in 2019, Cincoro Tequila has purported to distill its liquor using 100% Blue Weber agave, selling bottles ranging from $90 to upwards $1,700. The lawsuit accuses the brand owner, Cinco Spirits Group, of negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and deceptive and unfair trade practices.

In a statement shared with The Spirits Business, Cinco Spirits Group said: “Cincoro is, and always has been, crafted exclusively from 100% Blue Weber agave. We stand firmly behind the integrity of our brand and will vigorously defend it both in court.”

Murmurings of supposed tequila adulteration first made the rounds in January. Lider Empresarial reported that between 150 and 3,000 protestors took to the streets of Jalisco, Mexico, demanding higher wages for agave farmers, transparency and the creation of a new tequila certification body. Remberto Galván, legal representative for the Mexican Agave Council, further alleged that regulators were allowing the cold mixing of tequila with sugarcane alcohol.  The allegations — firmly denied by the Tequila Regulatory Council — were not substantiated with any specific brand names at the time.

That would soon change. As of July, Casamigos and Don Julio have been accused in three separate lawsuits of containing less than 100% Blue Weber agave. One of the three suits claims that samples of Casamigos Blanco and Don Julio 1942 contained approximately 33% ethanol derived from agave, while Casamigos Reposado and Don Julio Blanco clocked in at 42%. The lawsuit alleges that the remaining liquor was derived from cane sugar, akin to rum.

In a proposed dismissal, brand owner Diageo said that the claims are “wholly without merit,” adding that “Plaintiffs offer a scattershot narrative based entirely on unsupported and unverified speculation quoted in blogs and media reports.”

From Casamigos to Don Julio to Cincoro, all of the class action lawsuits hinge on a technique called nuclear magnetic resonance testing. NMR is purportedly capable of isolating a carbon “fingerprint” in alcohol, one that identifies the plant source of the sugars used during fermentation.

Claimants have hinted that the scope of the adulteration scandal extends far beyond the brands named in the headlines. Grover Sanschagrin, founder of the Additive-Free Alliance, recently alleged that 15 tequilas from nine different distilleries tested positive for non-agave alcohol. It is unclear whether Cincoro was one of the names included in Sanschagrin’s list.

Cincoro Tequila was founded in 2019 by an A-team of basketball industry veterans, including Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, Milwaukee Bucks owner Wes Edens, Emilia Fazzalari and Wyc Grousbeck of the Boston Celtics and Michael Jordan, then-owner of the Charlotte Hornets. The brand has since recruited a handful of other celebrities to its investment team. As of May 2024, “Team Cincoro” now includes 23-time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams, Yankees alum Derek Jeter, professional golf champions Dustin Johnson and Keegan Bradley and DraftKings founders Jason Robins, Matt Kalish and Paul Liberman.