The founder of Grasmere Distillery, based in the Lake District in England, has called for a uniform standard for ‘single malt’ and would favour stricter regulations for English whisky than those that govern Scotch.
Whisky made in the UK has been a keen talking point this week after the English Whisky Guild (EWG) revealed its application for a geographical indication (GI) for the category had reached the approval stage in the UK, following four years of development.
As it enters its consultation phase, the public will be able to give feedback on the proposal until 19 May 2025.
The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has taken grievance with part of the proposal, arguing it could be “very damaging” to the reputation of UK-made single malts, as the rules for English single malts did not entirely mirror those from Scotland.
Paul Abbott, founder and head distiller at Grasmere Distillery, a grain-to-glass distillery founded in 2021 and a member of the EWG, supports the creation of a uniform standard for English single malts.
He believes the key to achieving consistently high standards for English single malt whisky is to aim for stricter standards than those currently seen in Scotland.
Abbott said: “Single malt in England needs to aim for the highest quality. We should be going for stricter standards than Scotland, not lower, including for example a ban on caramel colouring or food dye in our single malt whisky – we don’t need it.
“English single malt whiskies are winning awards and winning a new generation of consumers at the same time. We need to ensure that the fledgling English single malt industry is taken seriously and that the drinks we produce are viewed as high-quality products crafted by artisans, who are as equally fastidious as our friends in Scotland.
“Anything less, I feel, would be detrimental to what most of us are trying to achieve.
“I would urge Defra [the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] to take specific note of this for the ‘single malt’ subcategory, during the current consultation that ends on 19 May, during which ‘English whisky’ and ‘English whiskey’ are being considered for geographical indicator protections, under the UK government’s scheme.”
A closer look at the proposals
Currently, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales all have their own GI for whisky.
The EWG worked with its 26 member distilleries and Defra to create the GI proposal for English whisky.
The product specification application for English whisky outlines: “The term ‘malt’ by itself can only be applied to English whisky where all the whisky in the product has been made using 100% malted barley (without the addition of any other cereals), yeast, saccharified by the diastase of the malt contained therein, water and matured in casks; where oak casks are not used, the type of wood must be specified on the front of the label, with a font and weight that give equal prominence to the subcategory information.”
Furthermore, the spirit must be batch distilled in a copper pot still at least twice.
Plus, the term ‘single’ can only be applied to English whisky that has been distilled entirely at a single distillery – and it can be distilled in one or more batches at a single site.
Where the SWA opposes the GI proposal is specifically related to single malts.
An SWA spokesperson highlighted that as the proposal stands, English single malt whisky “only requires distillation at [a] single distillery location and not the creation of the spirit from malted barley at a single site”.
The SWA said the suggested regulations for English single malt were “entirely inconsistent with the reputation of single malt whisky”.
“It would be very damaging for the reputation of single malt whisky from the UK, and by extension single malt Scotch whisky, if English whiskies were allowed to describe spirit as ‘single malt’ despite being produced in a different manner to the established process and long-standing traditions of the Scotch whisky industry,” a spokesperson for the SWA said.
The EWG replied: “Ensuring quality and innovation are at the forefront of all we do, so it is vital for this fast-growing English whisky industry to receive GI status and legal protection.
“It is important to note that the English whisky GI allows companies to partner with local breweries, leveraging their brewing expertise to create innovative and distinct whiskies.”
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Author: Melita Kiely
