BSI’s new guidelines capture traditions of whisky for consumers

Consumers around the world and in India can now have greater confidence in the quality of their whisky following the development of new guidelines by BSI setting out the best practice for how to produce it and ensure a trusted supply chain for one of the most popular alcoholic beverages around the world and India. The new standard by BSI, UK’s national standards body, will support distillers to offer a consistent whisky-drinking experience by focusing on the quality of the product beyond the minimum regulatory requirements.

Whisky is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in India, which replaced France as the largest Scotch whisky market by volume (242 million cases) in 2022. According to ISWR, the leading supplier of data and market intelligence on the global alcoholic drinks markets, whisky dominates nearly two-thirds of India's $53bn alcoholic beverages sales, making a strong case for adopting standards that make the process of making whisky more efficient and reliable.

The standard for whisky has been developed by experts from across the Scottish, Welsh, English and Irish whisky industries, brought together by BSI in its role as the UK’s national standards body and becomes the world’s first standard for whisky.

With the industry growing worldwide and new distillers appearing all the time, the standard, published by BSI, the British national standards body, builds on the UK and Irish industry experts’ deep knowledge of whisky production to set out how producers can deliver the specific colour, aroma and taste derived from its raw materials and production process.

The voluntary standard (BS 8636) provides a specification of the production process for the main categories of whisky traded and consumed globally. It is aimed at distillers wanting to produce a high-quality product to sell domestically or overseas and can help both established brands and new market entrants demonstrate quality and authenticity in their production processes and supply chain. It can also be used by producers globally seeking to create a high-quality spirit that meets consumers’ expectations.

Theuns Kotze, Managing Director, Assurance, BSI India, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, said, “The rapidly growing alcoholic beverages market in India is dominated by whisky, with locally produced whisky accounting for over 96% of the market. The growth of the whisky segment of the market is expected to continue, driven by higher consumption among millennial drinkers as well as a growing middle class gradually shifting from other alcoholic beverages to whisky.”

“We believe that BSI’s new BS 8636 standard can catalyse this growth by helping everyone in the whisky value chain in India. By adopting these standards, while producers would be able to ensure the quality of their products, consumers would benefit by way of quality, authenticity, and overall consistency in experience. By choosing whisky brands adhering to these standards, consumers can be confident that they are receiving a product that aligns with its price point and quality. The standards should also encourage the raw materials suppliers to ensure the quality of input,” Kotze added.

Scott Steedman, Director-General, Standards, BSI, said, “The new standard for whisky effectively bottles the historic tradition of whisky distilling for the benefit of consumers and the industry. We recognise that distillers take great pride in their craft and the unique characteristics that define a quality whisky, and we are delighted to have worked with whisky experts from across the UK and Ireland to produce a consensus standard on what good looks like for this world-renowned product.”

Steedman further said, “We hope the standard will create a benchmark for quality that will add value to the distillers who use it and increase the confidence of consumers everywhere. This new standard has worldwide application and can help to facilitate the production and trade of high-quality whisky worldwide.”

The guidance in the new British Standard, the first of its kind, details the methods of analysis which should be used to establish authenticity and consistency with that production process, the expected organoleptic characteristics, the typical ranges for analytes of interest and other technical matters.

The standard sets out details, including the desired colour of the whisky, which should be caramel, ranging from pale yellow/ gold to deep amber/ mahogany. It advises that whisky must be matured for at least three years in wooden casks and cannot be sweetened or contain any additives. It also sets the minimum alcoholic strength by volume as 40% and says every distillation should be carried out at less than 94.8% volume “so that the distillate has an aroma and taste derived from the raw materials used”.

The standard notes that water and plain caramel are the only two compounds that can be added to matured whisky. It also describes the process of “whisky nosing”, but it stops short of prescribing a glass shape for this, advising instead that, “the most popular glasses for this are tulip-shaped, as they allow aromas to collect”.

There are other important details related to packaging, such as the advice that although whisky is not produced from animal products, the use of animal products in the production of other alcoholic beverages stored in the cask prior to the whisky should be considered when it comes to product labeling.

The new standard will be managed by a dedicated technical committee in BSI, which may revise and update the standard as required based on market feedback. BSI will discuss with the committee plans for the future, including the possibility of using the standard as a base document for an international (ISO) standard.