The Scotch Whisky Act 1988 was an Act to the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, passed during the reign of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

on 28 June 1988, with the

long title In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions (such as Canada or Australia), as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title and a long title. The ...

"An Act to make provision as to the definition of Scotch whisky and as to the production and sale of whisky; and for connected purposes.". The act first set out a definition for

Scotch whisky Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland. All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distil ...

– "whisky (distilled and matured in Scotland) as conforms to a definition of Scotch whisky contained in an order made under this subsection by the

Ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

". It also made it illegal to sell whisky as "Scotch whisky" if it does not conform to the definitions laid out in the Act, or sell whisky with an alcoholic strength of more than 94.8%. The Act was repealed in its entirety by the

Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 (Citation 2009, No. 2890; SWR) is a Statutory Instrument that regulates the production, labelling, advertising and packaging of Scotch whisky. The regulations were laid before the Parliament of the United Kingdom ...

which came into effect on 23 November 2009.

References

External links

* 1988 in Scotland United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1988 Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning England and Wales Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Scotland Scotch whisky Alcohol law in the United Kingdom Alcohol in Scotland {{UK-statute-stub