The Scotch Whisky Association fiercely protects its liquor's roots

Scotch Whisky is savoured all around the globe. 38 bottles are exported every second, produced by one of the 115 licensed Scottish distilleries. This represents around 25% of UK's foreign sales of food and drinks. There may be several whiskies but there's only one Scotch and it can't be made anywhere else but in Scotland. In fact, a Geographical Indication protects the origin of Scotch Whisky. Yet this won't stop dozens of alcohol brands from faking so-called Scottish whiskies throughout the world every year.

The Scotch Whisky Association was born in October 1912 under the name Wine & Spirit Brand Association. Its goal back then was to fight rising taxes on alcohol. It changed its name to Whisky Association 5 years later to focus on whisky only, but handled both Irish and Scottish producers interests. It was re-renamed in 1940 to become the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) and its role now is "to advance the global interests and profile of Scotch Whisky, our members and of the industry as a whole".

The Legal Affairs Department of the SWA regularly works on more than 60 different cases at the same time, involving 30 distinct countries. 400 trademarks alerts per month are under the SWA's microscope too. Fakers misleading intentions are more or less subtle. It can be the use of an English-like brand name, or the full tartan-bagpipe-Highland-castle combo on the packaging. That makes a very large range of issues to work on but preserving the authenticity of Scotch Whisky is vital for its industry... and for whisky connoisseurs.

*Photo: Scotch Whisky Association