An unusual " war" began between England and Scotland

A "whiskey war" broke out between England and Scotland". This is reported by the British media.

It is reported that the British government has approved an application for the assignment of protected geographical status to English whiskey. On September 11, the Government of the Kingdom signed the relevant document. Now English whiskey is separated into a separate category, which equates it with Scottish, Welsh and Irish whiskey. It is noted that English whiskey must meet the following requirements: be made from British grain and English water, undergo distillation in England from English wort, have an alcohol content of less than 94.8%, aged in England for at least three years in wooden barrels up to 700 liters and bottled with at least 40% alcohol. Only the addition of caramel for coloring is allowed. The full list of requirements will be published no later than October 1. As stated by British Environment Minister Angela Eagle, the new status recognizes the unique character and quality of English whiskey.

The endowment of English single malt whiskey with the status of a protected name caused outrage in Scotland. The Scotch Whisky Producers Association (SWA, representing 90 companies) plans to meet with the British government to express concern about the differences in the status of whisky. SWA claims that English whiskey has received a protected status under different rules than scotch.

According to the standards, Scotch single malt whiskey must go through all stages of production in one distillery in Scotland, while English whiskey producers can carry out some stages outside of England. The head of the SWA, Mark Kent, said that the rules for English whiskey contradict single malt standards, and noted that colleagues from Wales and Northern Ireland agree with this.

Recall that the dispute over whiskey arose against the background of deeper political contradictions between London and other administrative and political parts of the UK. On September 13, the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland announced their intention to sign a memorandum of understanding that would consolidate their right to self-determination. The leaders also intend to demand from London the right to hold a vote on secession from the UK.