A public consultation on the Technical File of Irish whiskey is to begin before the end of 2025. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is currently reviewing the file before inviting the public to make suggestions and comments in a public consultation.
“The Department’s process of engagement with the applicants to gain a full understanding of the proposed amendments is nearing a conclusion and it is expected that the public consultation on proposed amendments will begin in late Q4 2025.”
In September 2024, the Department confirmed that it received three applications requesting amendments to the Irish whiskey technical file/product specification.
The Department also confirmed that it would engage with the UK’s Department of Food and Rural Affairs as Irish whiskey is an all-island geographical indication.
Irish whiskey does not need to be made from Irish grain according to the technical file which has been a topic that comes up regularly among the farming community. However, more and more countries are trying to safeguard their products by insisting on native grain use in whiskey production.
In England, the product specification for English whiskey says: “English Whisky is a whisky made from UK grain at an English distillery using water local to the distillery for distilling and mashing and matured in England. English Whisky is a product that epitomises a strong sense of place and provenance with all production processes (except bottling) undertaken exclusively in England.”
In February 2025, DEFRA opened a consultation on registering English whiskey and English whisky as a Geographical Indication and to change the specification so that English whiskey could only be bottled in England. Read about it here.
In December 2024, the United States set rules requiring US barley to be used in US single malt whiskey production. Read about it here.
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