The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has lodged a formal appeal to prevent English whisky being granted “protected geographical indication (GI) status”.
The Scottish association launched the offensive against their Southern rivals after accusing the Labour Government of “watering down the definition of single malt”.
The English whisky GI status was officially approved by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on September 11.
During an urgent question in the House Commons on September 15 on the decision, Defra Secretary Stephen Morgan said Labour remains “absolutely committed to supporting and championing Scotch whisky at home and abroad”.
He said: “Scotch whisky’s protected status, reputation and production requirements are unchanged and the English definition of single malt has no impact on how single malt is made in Scotland.
“Nothing in this decision changes the protected status, reputation or production requirements of Scotch whisky.”
However, the SWA’s main contention is that English whisky was awarded protected status under different rules to those in Scotland.
Scotch single malt whisky must undertake the process of mashing, fermenting and distilling at a single distillery in Scotland.
The Scotch Whisky Association has lodged an appeal with the UK government
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For English single malt, some steps may happen away from the primary site in the production process.
The Scots had asked that any English malt whisky which was not created under the same process at a single distillery not be labelled as English malt whisky.
The association has also been joined by the Irish and Welsh associations in their claim against the UK Government.
A spokesman for the English Whisky Guild said Scotland’s objection was “bewildering”.
The application for the protected status issued last month was successful
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They added: “English Whisky GI closely follows the approach already adopted within the single malt Welsh whisky GI and the US standard.
“Against that backdrop, the strength of the opposition seems both misplaced and somewhat over the top.”
In a joint statement from the Irish Whiskey Association, Scotch Whisky Association and Welsh Whisky Association, they said they had hoped for a “mutually beneficial resolution”.
They said: “We hoped that a mutually beneficial resolution could be found to both protect the integrity of the Single Malt category and allow the English GI to proceed.
“Despite efforts to find an agreement, including offering compromises to the English Whisky Guild, our Associations remain concerned about inconsistencies in approving the English Whisky GI, both in terms of process and future practice.
“The whisk(e)y producers we represent have a proud, long-standing and unrivalled tradition of making world-class whisk(e)y.
“We want to see high-quality definitions, which underpin a high-quality Single Malt category enjoyed by millions around the world.”
The appeal will now be considered by a tribunal.
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