WHISKY makers were fuming with Westminster policy-makers last month and accused Sir Keir Starmer of “sabotaging single malt”.
The harsh criticism came amid plans for a new legal definition of ‘English single malt whisky’.
The Scotch Whisky Association and Holyrood government insiders fear the plans could attack the reputation of our £5.4billion whisky industry.
Single malt Scotch by definition must be made in one single distillery.
But the concern is that the proposed change could mean English whisky is made in different locations, diluting the market with low quality drams.
Today GlenAllachie master distiller Billy Walker, who has over 50 years experience, tells why we must defend the tradition and quality of the Scotch industry.
THE team at GlenAllachie Distillery understands the challenges of creating world-class spirit at a single site – believe me, we do.
We’re an independent distillery in the heart of Scotland’s whisky country and have always had innovation and sustainability at our core.
Built in the 1960s, the site was designed to be almost entirely gravity-fed to run on reduced energy, and in 2023 we were awarded a grant for a significant decarbonisation project, including the installation of Mechanical Vapour Recompression technology, that will halve energy demand.
When I came on board as the Master Blender for GlenAllachie Distillery, we decided to transform the single malt slumbering in the warehouse into something spectacular.
Eight years on, our small team of whisky experts continues to work together to create high quality Single Malt Scotch Whisky, grounded in tradition and connected to place, with authentic quality and character shining through.
It has not been an easy journey, with a turbulent few years for business owners, but it has been worth it.
That is why I was concerned last week to learn of the application by the English Whisky industry which could undercut the time, investment and sheer amount of effort we have put into our distillery.
Put simply, whisky is distilled wash and, in fermenting that wash, there are many vital decisions to make. These can include: What variety of barley do you use? What yeast do you use? How long do you ferment for? At what temperature?
All these choices impact the final flavour of the spirit, which will mature into Scotch Whisky.
We take these choices seriously and are passionate about making the best Single Malt Scotch Whisky we can, having made the best wash we can.
But what if we instead got a brewery to make these choices for us, and to ship in beer to simply distil it at our site? For starters, it would not be ‘Single’ malt for two key reasons.
First, Single Malt is fundamentally connected to a place. If we brought in wash made at a different brewery in the Highlands, let alone elsewhere in the country, it would lose the connection to the community we have worked so hard to create.
Second, Single Malt is just that — single.
It is about making the new make, from grain to spirit, by controlling the quality at a single location, under one roof, and with one team all dedicated to the same goal.
Many English whisky distilleries already mash, ferment and distil at one site. They are free to call it Single Malt, and to compete with Scotch Whisky in the global marketplace.
But a few now bring in wash from other breweries to simply distil it. The proposed definition of ‘Single Malt’ should reserve that description for creating the spirit at just one site.
Otherwise, the risk is that this allows breweries in Carlisle to produce wash that is to be distilled in Cornwall — and described as Cornish Single Malt.
You can see how confusion could set in with consumers with this proposed dilution of what Single Malt is, after the Scotch Whisky industry has taken decades to establish it as a whisky synonymous with a place and with quality.
Asked about the potential impact on Scotch Whisky on a visit to Scotland last week, the Prime Minister said: “It’s a consultation that has to happen under the operation of the legal framework that we’re under — but my commitment is, as I say, absolutely to defend Scottish whisky here.”
I, and the wider industry, certainly hope the Prime Minister stands by that commitment and ensures Single Malt Scotch Whisky is not undermined.
We should not dilute the meaning of Single Malt. My business, like the Single Malt Whisky category, is built on reputation.
If English distillers can describe their whisky as single malt even though the wash comes from another location, the reputation of the single malt category, of which I am part, is damaged.
Instead, we should let Single Malt mean Single — new make spirit made under a single roof with a solid connection to a single place.
If English distillers want to bring in wash from other sites to distil, they can, but they must call it what it is — simply English Malt Whisky.
Anything else is simply trying to trade off the hard-fought reputation of Single Malt, and the Scotch Whisky industry will defend it.
