What English whisky’s geographical indication means for its identity
It’s official: English whisky now has geographical indication (GI) status! This means English whisky is now recognised as a distinctive category, required to meet certain production conditions. It’s the last of the UK’s four nations to secure protection for its whiskies: Scotch secured its GI in 2009 (set out in the Scotch Whisky Regulations), followed by Irish whiskey’s technical file in 2014 and the Welsh whisky GI in 2023.
This is a big achievement for the English Whisky Guild (EWG), established in 2022 to protect and promote the category. Vice-chairman Tagore Ramoutar, a founder of the Oxford Artisan Distillery and author of the GI application, said its approval marked a “new chapter” for English whisky.
But the battle has been long and the victory hard-fought. The guild submitted its GI application to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in February 2022. There were criticisms to address, not least from the Scotch Whisky Association, but EWG sources told me they engaged with the application’s seven objectors and negotiated amendments and compromises.
They admit it wasn’t possible in all cases, some objections being more ideological than physical. And that’s reasonable, because arguably, the most important thing about this document is its ideology. It brings coalescence to England’s plucky but disparate band of whisky distillers, enabling greater consumer education and lobbying power and providing legal recourse when the descriptor is misappropriated. It’s a foundation on which English whisky can rise.
What’s in the GI?
To be clear on the purpose of a GI: it targets product, not producer, enforcing restrictions on what can be labelled as “English whisky” rather than on the distilleries themselves. Let’s run through a few of its key requirements:
100% of the cereal grains used in English whisky must be grown in the UK (unlike Scotch whisky, where grains can be sourced from anywhere).
“Single malt whisky” may be mashed and fermented on a separate site to where it is distilled.
“Malt whisky” is required to be distilled “at least once”, rather than the double distillation mandated in the Scotch Whisky Regulations. It also doesn’t specify the use of copper stills, only that there must be “sufficient copper contact in the vapour path”.
“Blended” whiskies may also be referred to as “vatted” (a term that was taken out of use in Scotch whisky in the 1990s).
Non-oak wooden casks can be used for maturation, as is the case for Irish whiskey.
Matured English whisky can be shipped in bulk and bottled in-market. Ireland operates a similar policy, but inspections are required in non-EU countries to ensure compliance with the Irish whiskey technical file; Scotch and Welsh whiskies must be bottled in their country of origin.
I’ve been watching English whisky producers with fascination over the past few years. To my mind, these definitions are bubbling with potential. They keep conformity where it’s beneficial for quality and category formation while celebrating individual interpretation and expression. This signals that the “character” of English whisky is going to exist somewhere besides flavour — a novel concept in drinks, but one that producers should leap at. Think of all the ways the story of English whisky can be told when we’re not confined to discussing how it tastes.
Considering objections
One organisation unwilling to embrace these differences was the SWA. Its opposition was vociferous and emotive — and that’s telling. Only legitimate threats prompt criticisms of this volume. Methinks the trade body doth protest too much.
Examining the SWA’s reaction to the Welsh whisky GI reveals inconsistencies. One of the SWA’s central complaints about the English whisky GI was the definition of single malt whisky, which would only have to be distilled on one site rather than fully produced there. However, the Welsh whisky GI has the same condition: “‘Single Malt Welsh Whisky’ is a whisky distilled exclusively at a single Welsh distillery.” The SWA did not mount a public assault on the Welsh Whisky Association (WWA). It didn’t even submit a notice of objection to Defra; the application went unopposed.
Considering the dual meaning of “opposition” offers some elucidation. Wales currently has 14 operational whisky distilleries (three of which are owned by category patriarch Penderyn); in England there are 70-plus, of which more than 40 are selling mature whisky to a global market that’s now 30 countries strong.
Looking at those numbers, the SWA’s skittishness over a formalised English whisky category makes sense. But while we’re delving into the figures, here are a few more I feel are pertinent. The current production capacity of England’s whisky distilleries, in litres of pure alcohol per year, is about 2 million. In Scotland, it’s roughly 440 million; Glenfiddich alone produces 10 times the amount of spirit in a year as the whole of England. To say they’re not competing in the same field is a gargantuan understatement.
In a statement on the approval of English whisky’s geographical induction, environment secretary Dame Angela Eagle said English whisky would “stand proudly alongside Scotch, Welsh and Irish whiskies”. Dame Angela and I are on the same page: this is a time for camaraderie, not confrontation. Given Scotch whisky’s multi-billion-pound significance to the country’s economy I could understand the SWA’s protective instinct if it weren’t for the clear disparity between the power and influence of the English and Scotch whisky categories. There’s a reason people don’t root for Goliath.