CAMPAIGNERS are calling for the Kingdom of Fife to be given the status of an official Scotch Whisky Region.
Local distillery owners, politicians and organisers of the whisky festival have called on the Scotch Whisky Association to add Fife to the already five traditional whisky producing regions: Highlands and Islands, Speyside, Islay, Lowlands and Campbeltown.
Fife is currently part of the Lowland region, and has more distilleries than the official region of Campbeltown.
The Kingdom has five popular distilleries, Campbelltown has three, and has a reputation for producing quality single malts.
The region was also where the first ever written reference to whisky was recorded.
The official status can provide financial and legal benefits.
William Wemyss, managing director of family-owned Kingsbarns Distillery, told The Courier that the benefits could be great for the local economy, but believes all whisky producers in Fife "have to come together and collaborate".
Wemyss said: “I would like to see Fife become a region in its own right but I do not think there is a quick fix and it is something that would have to be done right.
“For it to be effective, all the producers would have to come together and collaborate.
“We would all need to invest time and money to build the Fife name and ensure that it really worked. It has to go beyond just trading on the word region.
“You need to ensure you can resonate with the global market and that takes a lot of work – brainpower and investment.
“The Fife name has to stand for something in the markets of the US, China and Taiwan like Speyside and Islay do. It might mean something to local people but it has to also mean something overseas.”
Justine Hazlehurst, co-director of Fife Whisky Festival added: “The reason these formalised regions were introduced was predominantly to protect the whisky producing areas and I think Fife would benefit from this.
“I think Fife should now be afforded the same level of protection to ensure people on the other side of the world cannot trade on the name.
“They do have cover under the Lowland region, but it is not quite the same.
“Fife is relatively new as a whisky producing region and is growing in popularity and I think official status would further enhance its reputation overseas.”
Local politicians have also joined the campaign, hoping to lobby on behalf of the issue.
SNP MSP for Cowdenbeath, Annabelle Ewing, said: “The whisky industry is massively important throughout Scotland for jobs, business and tourism and being recognised as a separate whisky producing area in our own right would be yet another string to Fife’s bow.”
Richard Baker, Labour MP for Glenrothes and Mid Fife said: “It is important to support this vital local industry and I am keen to discuss the proposal for Fife to become a designated whisky region, further promoting our local distilleries.
“Fife not only has a rich heritage in producing whisky, renowned throughout the world, but an exciting future as well.
“Glenrothes and Mid Fife is home to a number of distilleries, and I recently had the pleasure of visiting the InchDairnie Distillery.
“It is not only producing wonderful new whiskies, which will soon be launched worldwide, but is a living wage employer and investing significantly to power the distillery through clean energy.”
Alan Park, SWA director of legal affairs, said: “The five traditional localities and regions that we know today were defined in the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 not only because they had a very long-standing reputation, with references dating back to 1909, but also because their long-standing reputation made them prone to misuse by bad faith actors in the global market.
“It’s still permitted to use another Scottish place name on a Scotch Whisky label as long as all the Scotch Whisky was entirely distilled there – such as 'Fife Single Grain Scotch Whisky' for whisky distilled in Fife.
“Therefore, whisky distilleries can and do use the name of the region where they are located in the labelling and promotion of their brands without the need for a change in the law.
“Distilleries in different regions are free to promote and build a reputation for their areas, reflecting the wonderful diversity of offering which Scotch Whisky gives to the world.”
