Whisky fans are familiar with the historic but oft debated laws in regards to Scotch. Indeed, this is the stuff we revel in. The recipe for the rules contains: three cups of economics, two of tradition, the same again for identity, and then a pinch of flair – so it’s never been simple.

Laws are rooted in history, moments of change, such as how grain whisky - through the Coffey still - came into existence. A pivotal moment in whisky history. We take our story from a little afterwards, the turn of the 20th century. By this time, distillers and blenders had had a few decades to experiment with grain whisky and they were distributing a number of blends, a mixture of grain and single malt whiskies, all over the UK.

They were selling so successfully that the malt makers began to grumble… 

Why The Case Happened

As Sir Robert Lockhart’s tells us in his book Scotch: The Whisky of Scotland in Fact and Story, trouble for blenders and grain-ists brewed from an unusual quarter:

Malt distillers and their associates had been protesting this newcomer whisky for years, grandstanding on the subject and creating malt purists – the ranks of which now included Islington Borough Council. The council had been so incensed that they wanted to invoke the law. Someone had to read the rules. Read them and understand. And that meant writing them, first.

The Case Wasn’t Going Anywhere

The two sides went back and forth with officials officiating decisions and then non-officiates appealing. The underlying issue was that no-one with the power to decide felt that they could decide one way or another. Sir Lockhart suggests that these legal workers didn’t have enough technical knowledge. They went through various courts and eventually reached a deadlock. 

Then, they were put on the agenda of a very important person: The President of the Board of Trade. The hope being that he might sort out somewhere for them to have an official argument about this. Back to the book and Sir Robert Lockhart has some things to say about this President of the Board of Trade…

A Royal Commission

Suffice to say The President of the Board of Trade was as ruthless and stubborn as the Handforth Parish Council Clerk. Mr John Burns, in short, turned his nose up at all things sinful and alcoholic. He would not let this case be taken anywhere, preferring to have nothing to do with whisky and it’s dirty associated vices. He ignored it completely.

Islington Borough Council managed to pressure Mr Burns into finally doing his job and appointing a Royal Commission. Finally, an official group of people who would once and for all decide the matter of ‘what is whisky’.

How They Prepared

Both sides went pamphlet mad. Pamphlets were very big in those days. To prepare for the battle Team Grain even put out an advert in the Daily Mail. A very respectable thing to do in those days. This ad was for a new whisky, a pure grain whisky. A yet unheard of product!

The whisky, from the Cambus distillery, was deemed by them not only worthy of the level of esteem attributed to a fancy ad in the Daily Mail but also to be an actually very enjoyable dram. Or so they said. Their angle was that this whisky was lighter than pure malt and was therefore more adequate for the sensitive stomachs of the city-slicker elite. They may not have had the hearts of Islington Borough Council but they would damn well try for the rest of London. This ad was designed to change the course of history.

…and that is where we will leave this story for this week! Come back next week to find out how the case went, what claims they made in court and what the result was.