Scotland's leading independent whisky maker and six-time Whisky Magazine Innovator of the Year, Compass Box, has launched a global campaign to change the UK and EU laws governing the packaging and promotion of spirits. Explaining the thinking behind the "Scotch Whisky Transparency" campaign, Compass Box founder and whisky-maker, John Glaser said: "Since launching Compass Box, we have always tried to be as open and honest as possible with our customers regarding how we produce our whiskies. However, late 2015 we were informed that the way we've been communicating information about our whiskies is illegal. That by sharing the entire recipe for our whiskies - by offering our customers complete transparency - we have been breaking UK and EU regulations governing the marketing and promotion of spirits. We believe this should change. This is why we are asking for support from consumers and industry leaders to challenge the regulations." The issue is believed to date back to the 1980s when the current legislation was first produced. At the time there was a problem with certain producers including tiny amounts of very old whisky in their blends and labelling them in a manner that made consumers believe the whisky was in fact older than it was. The new legislation put an end to that but and the unintended side-effect of preventing blenders from sharing their recipes with consumers. Glaser is clear that the changes he proposes will not see a return to the days of misleading whisky labels.
