UK Law and the use of Sugar

A question for anyone familiar with UK law. What is the position of licensed distilleries making either GNS or a potable spirit from a sugar wash only? My understanding of the legislation is that sugars extracted from biological (plant) sources is acceptable, however I am no lawyer.

Comments

  • I don't know anything about UK law, but you can't call something GNS/NGS unless it's made out of G, anything else would be clearly mislabeling (grain neutral spirits, neutral grain spirits). But, I don't think you are really talking about making neutral spirits as an industrial producer.

    You are really talking about making vodka, gin or some other distilled spirit out of cane. Just a quick Google search shows that there are plenty of vodkas and other spirits that are cane based, or non-grain based (fruit) in the UK. I would imagine where you would want to look in the law is around what the labeling implications are - if you need to state the specific source of the alcohol if not specifically grain, or potato for example, example: "Distilled from Cane Sugar".

  • in the uk sugar would come under the agricultural spirit and can be used to make gin

  • Greetings Grim, sorry it was an incorrect input on my behalf, however you have understood the gist of what I was trying to say. I have read the pertinent sections of UK law, however I was just wondering if anyone had specific experience, especially when applying for a licence when sugar was to be the prime ingredient used for the base spirit.

  • I know, that some of our customers use sugar beet molasses. I did not hear, that it caused any more licence troubles than the usual.

    StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area

  • not sugar, specifically, but how and why CNS got into 'blended whiskey'... all about the money...

    Much Ado About Nothing: Cane Neutral Spirits

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