‘Products obtained through fermentation remain classified under heading 2206 provided that they retain the character of products classified under that heading, namely that of fermented beverages. Products to which, for instance, distilled alcohol, water and other substances (such as syrup, various aromas and colourings, and, in some cases, a cream base) have been added, might have changed their characteristics. When those additions result in losing the taste, smell and/or appearance of a beverage produced from a particular fruit or natural product, that is to say a fermented beverage of heading 2206, those products are to be classified under heading 2208 (see, to that effect, for example the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-150/08 (*1) and in Joined Cases C-532/14 and C-533/14 (*2)).

‘Products which are obtained not exclusively through fermentation but also through a process of purification, which leads to those products losing the properties and characteristics of fermented beverages and acquiring those of ethyl alcohol, are classified under heading 2208 (see, to that effect, for example the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-196/10 (*3) as regards a liquid described as a “malt beer base” with an alcoholic strength by volume of 14 % and obtained from brewed beer which has been clarified and then subjected to ultrafiltration, by which the concentration of ingredients such as bitter substances and proteins has been reduced).

See also the explanatory note to heading 2206 00.