Following the granting of Geographical Indication (GI) status for English whisky, all four whisky-producing nations in the UK now have equivalent legal protection under the UK Spirit Drinks Geographical Indications Scheme.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) granted the English whisky GI on Friday, closing a gap between the protections afforded to national whisky in the UK.
The GI is the result of more than six years of work by the English Whisky Guild. The application was originally submitted in February 2022 before being published for opposition three years later in February 2025.
“This is a defining moment for English whisky,” said Dan Szor, chair of the English Whisky Guild and founder of Cotswolds Distillery.
“I am immensely proud to see our category formally recognised with its own Geographical Indication. It gives English whisky a clear and protected identity, celebrates the quality and provenance behind what we produce, and sends a powerful signal to consumers and markets around the world.”
The new GI specifications require English whisky to be made from UK cereal grain and English water, distilled in England from wort created in England to less than 94.8% abv. It then must be matured in England for a minimum of three years in wooden casks no more than 700 litres before being bottled at a minimum of 40% abv with plain caramel (E150a) the only permitted additive.