words: German distillery Waldhornbrennerei has been ordered to drop the title of ‘Glen’ from the label of its single malt whisky, Glen Buchenbach. The distillery was sued by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), a trade body representing Scotch on the implication that this label would “mislead [consumers] as to the true origin of the whisky.” and that only whiskys produced in Scotland may bear that geographical distinction the Hamburg regional court ruled that the distillery must change its name due its products being produced outside of Scotland The case was then disputed by the German company and sent to the Hanseatic higher regional court in the hopes it would be overturned; On Feb Waldhornbrennerei officially dropped its charges “We do not have any indication on our labels that our whisky could be a Scotch,” said Jürgen Klotz “It is a shame for an organization like the SWA to point out one word and to fix the fame of Scotch whisky to this word.” so the name Glen Buchenbach is technically geographically sound There is no mention of Scotland whatsoever on the bottle with the label reading “Swabian Single-Malt Whisky.” the SWA contends that this case is based in many consumers’ instant connection between the word and Scottish whisky “The only reason to use ‘Glen’ for a German whisky is because of its undoubted association with Scotch whisky,” said Park A legal ruling ordering a German distillery to remove the word ‘glen’ from its whisky label has been upheld A nine-year battle to stop German distillery Waldhorn from calling its single malt whisky Glen Buchenbach has finally been concluded Despite indicating that the whisky is a German product on its label the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) launched a legal case in 2013 arguing that the use of the word ‘glen’ may “mislead” consumers as to the “true origin of the whisky” In 2019, a Hamburg court ruled that the distillery must change its whisky’s name with its lawyer Sven Mühlberger claiming that: “With the same reasoning the SWA could claim almost any Scottish-sounding term such as ‘Mac’ or ‘Mary Stuart’ for itself.” Waldhorn further claimed that surveys showed that few consumers would make a direct connection between “glen” and “Scotch Whisky” the SWA announced on its website that the court had upheld the original ruling meaning the distillery must cease selling its whisky under the name Glen Buchenbach “The SWA has consistently taken action in our global markets to prevent the use of Scottish indications of origin on whisky which is not Scotch Whisky This is vital to protecting Scotland’s national drink and is a deterrent to those who seek to take advantage of the quality reputation of Scotch Whisky and potentially mislead consumers,” said Alan Park “Our case against Glen Buchenbach presented clear and compelling evidence to the court that ‘Glen’ is strongly associated with Scotland and Scotch Whisky and the only reason to use ‘Glen’ for a German whisky is because of its undoubted association with Scotch Whisky “We are pleased with the ruling that the use of Glen on a German whisky is both misleading and evocative of Scotch Whisky” We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings we will not be able to save your preferences This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again are seen during a press conference in Ottawa The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said the other members of the G7 should stand firm against Donald Trump’s trade policies at the G7 summit to be held in Quebec on Friday. Speaking at a press conference with Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, Macron said the US was drifting towards “further isolationism” and “crude hegemony”, according to the Guardian Trump tweeted in reply: “Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.” The EU’s top court has ruled that the brand name “Glen Buchenbach” used by distillery in southwestern Germany could conceivably run afoul of European labelling rules, as reported by DW and the Reuters news agency The Scotch Whisky Association has argued that use of the word “glen” implies that the whisky is Scotch (Scotch whisky is a geographically protected designation but “glen” is not specifically restricted.) The European Court of Justice said a Hamburg tribunal would have to decide if the average consumer would be deceived China has started a tax probe into the country’s film industry, reported the Economist Officials are examining the use of so-called “ying and yang contracts” when a lower salary is declared for tax purposes but a higher salary is actually paid and the abuse of corporate tax breaks for companies registered in China’s far west and in Tibet Worried about robots taking over the world? According to MIT Technology Review Amazon’s warehouse robots have been foiled by… popcorn butter The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has finally won its legal case against the German distiller over the use of ‘Glen’after the earlier court ruling was upheld by the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg The SWA first took legal action in 2013 against the distiller for the use of ‘Glen’ in the branding of its single malt Glen Buchenbach and in 2019 it won its case in the lower court in Hamburg The court ruled that the distillery had to change the name of the whisky because it breached the geographical indication of Scotch and the inclusion of the word “glen” might imply to consumers that it was produced in Scotland This decision was then appealed by Waldhorn The appeal was rejected last week when the original ruling was upheld This is vital to protecting Scotland’s national drink and is a deterrent to those who seek to take advantage of the quality reputation of Scotch Whisky and potentially mislead consumers “We are pleased with the ruling that the use of Glen on a German whisky is both misleading and evocative of Scotch Whisky.” Privacy Policy