The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has lodged an appeal against the UK government’s decision to award protected ‘geographical indication’ (GI) status to English whisky.
The trade body’s concerns centre around the definition of English single malt whisky under the framework, which it claims is not as stringent as single-malt scotch’s. The UK Government’s department for environment, food & rural affairs (Defra) has until 5 November to respond to the appeal, which has been signed by the SWA as well as the Irish and Welsh whisky associations.
Granted on 11 September, the protected status provides legal protection of the terms ‘English Whisky’ and ‘English Whiskey’ under the UK Spirit Drinks Geographical Indications Scheme, which is managed by Defra. At the time, trade association English Whisky Guild, which submitted the application in 2022, said the move closed “a long-standing gap in UK GI policy”.
An SWA spokesperson told Global Drinks Intel: “We recognise the significance of English whisky securing GI protection, and have been consistently supportive of a GI for English Whisky.
“The scotch whisky industry remains concerned that the GI allows single malt English whisky to be mashed and fermented away from the distillery, breaking the crucial connection with single site and place.
“We have decided to appeal the decision to protect the scotch whisky industry’s huge investment in the high quality and reputation of the single malt whisky category.”
A consultation on GI status last February drew the ire of distillers in Scotland, some of whom argued that the definition of English single malt was “entirely inconsistent” with the existing rules for single malt scotch.
