Plans to permit English whisky makers to make use of the time period “single malt” have led to a backlash by Scottish distilleries and politicians.
Underneath proposals being thought-about by the UK authorities, “single malt English whisky” could possibly be used for the spirit made by a single distillery in England.
Nonetheless, the Scotch Whisky Affiliation (SWA) stated it “devalues” single malts as a result of, it claims, the English technique could be less complicated than the method utilized in Scotland.
A spokesperson for the Division for Setting, Meals & Rural Affairs (Defra) stated no choices had been made and the appliance course of was “ongoing”.
“What Scotch whisky does is it takes the malted barley and it creates the mash, it ferments it after which it distils it at one web site,” Graham Littlejohn, SWA director of technique and communications instructed NEWSTORN Good Morning Scotland.
“What the English proposal would do is to strip away the primary two of these three components and actually take away the basic connection to put that single malt Scotch whisky has.”
Underneath the proposal for English single malt whisky, the drink would solely be required to be distilled at one web site, whereas mashing and fermentation may happen elsewhere.
The English Whisky Guild stated that its distilleries associate with native breweries not on the identical web site to make use of “their brewing experience to create progressive and distinct whiskies”.
The guild stated it agreed with the SWA that “provenance and a way of place is a vital factor of whisky” and English whisky distillers’ grain needed to be sourced from the UK.
Mr Littlejohn stated that permitting the English business to make use of the time period for its alcohol “would actually harm the integrity of the only malt class and with it, the repute of the Scotch whisky business.”
The proposal to permit English single malt whisky is a part of a wider utility to Defra by the guild for geographical indication for English whisky.
This might give it protected geographical standing, which means it may solely be used to explain whisky made in England.
Mairi Gougeon, Scotland’s cupboard secretary for rural affairs, stated any proposal “to undermine the repute or definition of the time period single malt may have devastating results on our iconic whisky business and could be wholly unacceptable”.
She stated the business was “of giant financial significance to Scotland”, and exported £5.4bn price of products final 12 months.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney stated the Scottish authorities would “make all obligatory representations on this concern to guard the id and the character of Scotch whisky”.
Opponents of the plans have three months to reply.
The SWA stated it will reply formally to the Defra session “to robustly defend towards any devaluation of the only malt class”.
