There's a whisky war brewing in the UK. Distilleries in Scotland say a proposal to allow their counterparts in England to produce "single malt whisky" is heresy, reports the BBC. The controversy comes as the UK government considers a plan to loosen the age-old rules. "This is an act of sabotage and is yet another blatant attack on one of Scotland's key industries by a Labour government that simply doesn't care," said Graham Leadbitter, a Scottish National party MP, per the Financial Times.
- Current rules: To be labeled Scotch whisky, malt grains must be mashed, fermented, and distilled at one site in Scotland.
- Proposal: Under the new plan for the English version, the booze would be fermented at one site, but mashing and fermentation could take place elsewhere.
Allowing English whiskies so made to be labeled "single malt" would be "very damaging" to the "long-standing traditions" of Scotch, says the Scotch Whisky Association. The 3-year-old English Whisky Guild says it agrees "that provenance and a sense of place is a critical element of whisky," but it says consumers won't object because everything will be sourced from within the UK. The guild also points to the US—which produces whiskey, not whisky—and has its own rules governing "American Single Malt Whiskey," per the Scotsman. "These differing standards support the creation of quality whisky while fostering innovation and differentiation in each country," said chief executive Morag Garden. (More whisky stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
