Kyrö Distillery has to change the labels of his whiskey. According to the trade agreement in the early 2000s, only Canadian whiskey producers may be used by the trade agreement.
Kyrö Distillery has to change the labels of his whiskey bottles due to an old trade agreement. Adobe Stock / AOP
European whiskey producers are not allowed to use the term “Rye Whisky” for their products. The prohibition is due to a trade agreement negotiated by the EU and Canada in the early 2000s, which was concluded to protect the geographical markings of wines and spirits.
As part of the negotiations, the EU was introduced to exclusive terms such as champagne, cognac and Ouzo. Correspondingly, Canada received exclusive rights to the use of Rye Whisky and Whiskey de Seigle. The trade agreement was signed in the autumn of 2003.
Kyrö Distillery and Helsinki Distilling Company started production of Finnish Ruismisk in 2014, and neither distillery was aware of the trade agreement for ten years.
– This came as a complete surprise. It didn’t come to my mind that this would even be possible, says Kyrö Distillery’s Master Distiller Kalle Valkonen in the bulletin.
The picture shows the old and new etiquette of Ruismis. Kyrö Distillery
In addition to being prohibited by the term “Rye Whisky”, the appearance of the words “Rye” and “Whiskey” on the label on the same line is also prohibited.
Because of the guidance, Kyrö Distillery changes its whiskey labels in all its thirty market areas. The forbidden term “Rye Whisky” will be removed and replaced by a “Whiskey From a Sauna”, which refers to the place of business.
-In 2014, we set up Kyrö Distillery with the idea of making a single malt rye whiskey. In 2019, the term “single malt” was reserved for strong alcoholic beverages made from barley, and now it became clear that we could not call our rye whiskey “Rye Whisky”, as producers outside the EU, were reserved for barrels made. It’s like making extra virgin olive oil, and suddenly you can’t call the product an extra virgin virgin oil. And not even olive oil, says the founder of Kyrö Distillery Mikko Koskinen in the bulletin.
According to European whiskey producers, the enforcement of the rule is misleading and also unfair. Despite its name, the Canadian “rye whiskey” does not have to contain rye at all. Rye whiskey producers hope that the EU will react quickly to the drawback.