Manx spirit fails to make the grade

An independent distiller's clear spirit may be made from scotch and taste like a good whisky, but cannot call itself by the name, a High Court judge ruled yesterday. United Distillers and Allied Domecq won an undertaking from the Isle of Man producers of Glen Kella not to label it as Manx whisky in the United Kingdom.

Mr Justice Rattee decided that although the product is originally scotch whisky, redistilled to remove the colouration, it does not comply with the legal definition of the drink. He said "the essential point" was that to call itself whisky it must have been matured after distillation for at least three years and this spirit had not.