Pretoria - There will be no more wee dram of Clan Whiskey for Gauteng company Vintage Liquor Merchants, as their product cannot claim to be a Scottish whisky because it was not brewed in Scotland.
It was Goliath taking on David when whisky watchdog, the Scotch Whisky Association, Chivas Brothers and Chivas Holdings, turned to the Pretoria High Court against Centurion company, Vintage Liquor. They felt aggrieved that the smaller company sold “whis-key” using the word “Clan” in large letters.
To make matters worse, the label depicted a man in traditional Scottish Highland dress, wearing a tartan kilt and standing against a rural background that could be the Scottish Highlands, the court was told.
To rub salt in the wounds, the phrases “ultra fine”, “ultra smooth” and “Whiskey flavoured” appear on the label.
It is, however, also stated that the product was produced and bottled in South Africa.
Magnus von Schültz, a Scottish solicitor acting for the whisky watchdog, said in court papers that it was false to suggest that this product is a Scotch Whisky (spelt “whisky” in Scotland and Canada and “whiskey” in Ireland and the US, the court was told).
Cormack said it was not even a whisky, nor whisky flavoured, and it most certainly could not be allowed to bear the wording Clan on the label. Customers would be under the impression they were buying Scotch Whisky, he argued.
Scotch Whisky, he explained, has been sold for more than a hundred years across the world. In 2012 exports from Scotland were worth more than R56 billion. It is only true Scotch if it is entirely distilled and matured in Scotland.
The integrity of Scotch Whisky is protected in legislation in the UK and the EU. In 2013 the equivalent of 57.3 million bottles to the value of R2.8bn were exported to South Africa - whisky being said to be the fastest growing liquor in South Africa.
The liquor sold under the Clan label (the respondent’s product) was tested by the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, but found not to be the real McCoy and the labelling was thus misleading, the court was told.
Cormack said the impeccable reputation of Scotch Whisky had to be protected and the court should bar the respondents from passing off the product as the real thing.
The respondent agreed to be interdicted from passing off the product as “whisky”, “whiskey” or “whiskey flavoured” while it did not satisfy statutory requirements for whisky. It will also not use the name “Clan” or “Scottish” on labels or depict that the product came from Scotland. If it did not comply, a penalty of R1 000 per infringed bottle will be payable.
Pretoria News