The Scotch Whisky Association has won a six-year battle to stop a German distillery from using the term ‘Glen’ on its bottles, calling it “misleading” to the consumer and implies a Scottish origin and infringes upon its protected status.

(TDB) - The SWA launched legal action against German distillery Waldhorn in 2013, specifically against its single malt Glen Buchenbach.

The SWA launched legal action against German distillery Waldhorn in Berglen, near Stuttgart, in 2013, specifically against its single malt Glen Buchenbach.

The German producer, from Baden-Württemberg in the south of the country, makes a number of products including gin and traditional German ‘brand’ of various types.

It also makes a ‘whisky’ – with the Scottish spelling – named after the nearby Buchenbachtal in Swabia. ‘Tal’ in German means ‘valley’ and, as the distillery explains on its website, ‘glen’ is the Gaelic word for valley which is why the whisky has been named ‘Glen Buchenbach Swabian ’.

The SWA argued that the product could confuse consumers and “mislead them as to the true origin of the whisky”.