Why the Irish Whiskey Industry needs to get its act together

[jcskinner]

The Scots have the SWA. Ok, sometimes they're pernickety and sometimes their defence of Scotch goes overboard, as in the Glenora affair. But at least they're protecting their industry.
Who does Irish whiskey have?
You might think we don't really need an SWA equivalent for Irish whiskey. I disagree. Our indigenous spirit, pure potstill whiskey, is a term abused by distillers all over the place including, most sadly, some Irish distillers. It desperately needs the protection only an EU appellation can provide. Thankfully, wheels are in motion to do that.
But what can be done about this sort of crap:
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stoc ... 90689.html
The short version: An American farmer, who read a recipe in an old Irish book, is making a whiskey he's calling Hibernian from grain he's growing in Washington State.
In my dictionary, Hibernian means Irish. This is a deceitful, mealy-mouthed attempt to masquerade his product as an Irish whiskey. I think it's wrong, and I only wish that there was an Irish SWA equivalent in existence who would let him know to cease and desist from trading off the good name of Irish whiskey.
That's why the industry here needs to get its act together. All over the world, distillers know that the minute they cross the line with Scotch, they'll be hearing from the SWA. I predict that the rogues will start passing off muck as Irish in future, because there's no one to defend Irish whiskey currently.