Plans to allow English whiskey manufacturers to use the term “single malt” led to a reaction by Scottish distilleries and politicians.
Under the proposals envisaged by the British government, “Single Malt English Whiskey” could be used for the spirit manufactured by a single distillery in England.
However, the Scotch Whiskey Association (SWA) said that it “devalues” single Malts because, she says, the English method would be simpler than the process used in Scotland.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said that no decision had been made and that the request process was “in progress”.
“What Scottish whiskey is doing is he takes malted barley and he creates puree, he ferments it, then he distills it on a site,” said Graham Littlejohn, Director of Strategy and Communications from SWA, to BBC Good Morning Scotland.
“What the English proposal would do is to withdraw the first two of these three elements and to really delete the fundamental connection to place this Whiskey Scotch Single Malt.”
As part of the English Single Malt Whiskey proposal, the drink should only be distilled on a site, while crushing and fermentation could take place elsewhere.
The English Whiskey Guild said that its distilleries combine local breweries and not on the same site to use “their brewing expertise to create innovative and distinct whiskeys”.
The guild said that it agreed with SWA that “provenance and a feeling of belonging are an essential element of whiskey” and that the grain of whiskey distillers had to come from the United Kingdom.
Mr. Littlejohn said that allowing the English industry to use the term for its alcohol “would really damage the integrity of the Single Malt category and with it, the reputation of the Scottish Whiskey Industry”.
The proposal to authorize the English single malt whiskey is part of a broader application to Defra by the guild for a geographical indication for English whiskey.
This would give it a protected geographical status, which means that it could only be used to describe the whiskey made in England.
Mairi Gougeon, secretary of the Scottish cabinet for rural affairs, said that any proposal “undermines the reputation or definition of the term single malt could have devastating effects on our emblematic and would be completely unacceptable whiskey industry”.
She said industry was “of enormous economic importance for Scotland” and exported a value of 5.4 billion pounds Sterling last year.
Scottish Prime Minister John Swinney said that the Scottish government “would make all the necessary representations on this issue to protect the identity and character of Scottish whiskey”.
Opponents of the plans have three months to respond.
SWA said that it would officially respond to the DEFRA consultation “to defend itself robustly against any devaluation of the single malt category”.
