Scotch industry issue with local distillery puzzling

A Greater Victoria craft whiskey maker is in the news after raising the ire of the Scotch industry. Lawyers have told Victoria Caledonian Distillery owner Graeme Macaloney that he has to change the name of his award-winning whiskey brand.

“It’s nonsense,” Macaloney said to the CBC. “It’s really a frivolous, quite damaging lawsuit, to be honest.”

The industry says Macaloney’s name and the words “Island” and “Caledonian” will confuse consumers. Trade rules prohibit whiskey not made in Scotland from being called Scotch, which Macaloney has been careful not to do. Craft producers play a vital role in our region’s tourism economy. Hopefully the courts see this suit to be as silly as it sounds to us.