Commenting on the application to consider English Whisky/Whiskey as a Geographical Indication Scheme Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said:
“Scotland’s national drink is one of our greatest exports with unbreakable ties to our culture, history and industry and it is world-renowned thanks to its continued quality and authenticity.
“Any proposal to undermine the reputation or definition of the term Single Malt could have devastating effects on our iconic whisky industry and would be wholly unacceptable.
“The whisky industry is of huge economic importance to Scotland employing around 20,000 full time equivalent staff and exporting £5.4 billion worth of products, that success is built on a reputation hundreds of years in the making.
“If English Whiskies are allowed to dilute the definition of the term ‘Single Malt’ by using it to describe whisky only distilled at a single location rather than being created by malted barley at a single site it would remove the integral connection to place that is so vital in the whisky creation process.
“The long-standing tradition and processes used to create iconic Scotch Whisky cannot be damaged by allowing quicker and cheaper methods of creation to use the same respected terminology to describe a far less involved process and end product.
“Geographical Indications are a reserved area however I intend to raise this issue directly with UK Ministers.”
