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jamie
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Quote jamie Replybullet Topic: grants whisky
    Posted: 04.06.2007 at 00:28

can anyone help me? I bought a bottle of grants family reserve in singapore and noticed the % was 43 instead of the normal 40 found on bottles in the uk. Was intrested in why this was.

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eric m
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Quote eric m Replybullet Posted: 04.06.2007 at 10:34
According to EEC regulations inside the Union the maximum alcohollevel for a standard bottle is 40% only in duty free shops and outside Europe this level can be higher.Why it is done so i don`t know maybe the brussels burocrats are concerned of our healthWink!Eric.
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MacMartin
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Quote MacMartin Replybullet Posted: 10.06.2007 at 15:28
Sorry say this ericm but that's nonsense. If your statement was true around 80% of all malts would be illegal.

There is a minimum level of alcohol for whisky, and that level is 40% - it's perfectly legal to bottle at any strength above that.

It's true that some producers/bottlers bottle their whisky at a higher strength for the duty-free marked, since it's traditionally been tax-free (and still is in Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and other non-EU states) and therefore not necessary to water the whisky down - Glenfiddich does this with their malts.
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eric m
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Quote eric m Replybullet Posted: 11.06.2007 at 15:53
MacMartin,i wish it was nonsense but the EEC legislation wants to ban alcohollevels higher than 40% for their own market,it is a matter of years that this level is standard.Only for duty free it will be a bit higher.The present situation they allow it but eventually they get their way(another example is to forbid any non-pasturized cheese,they also work on a law to stop that too!).And if i were wrong why does my neighbour has to smuggle a litchibrandy(80%)from Hong Kong into the Netherlands for me if it is legal to bring it with you?If you know other reasons why i`m eager to hear them from you.Greetings Eric m.
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Quote whiskyportal Replybullet Posted: 11.06.2007 at 23:19
Well, not much from the EEC would surprise me, but here in Denmark you can enter any store selling whisky and find whiskies bottled at all kind of strengths - watered down to 40/43/46% (or even 45,8% as is the case for the standard Talisker 10YO) or cask strength. At least in Denmark you will find no laws stating that specific levels of alcohol should be used - you just pay the duty bsed on the amount of pure alcohol in the bottle.
 
And exactly the duty is the reason for some whiskies to be bottled at 40%. It's the lowest level of alcohol you can have in the bottle and still call the content whisky, but the duty will be minimised - resulting in lower retail price.
 
I believe that more and more single malts are bottled at 43 or 46%. And all the unchillfiltered bottlings I have seen myself so far (not claiming it will be true for all unchillfiltered) has been bottled at at least 46% to avoid cloudiness in the bottle at low temperatures.
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eric m
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Quote eric m Replybullet Posted: 12.06.2007 at 09:36

It`s all true what you say  i still can get bottles of 50% over here too,but the EEC ,so concerned about our health is busy with legislation to make  40% max a standard in Europe. it will be over a few years that it`s over.I`ll try to dig an article i read about it up and if not i`m gonna ask Brussels .Shocked.Greetings Eric m.

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MacMartin
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Quote MacMartin Replybullet Posted: 13.06.2007 at 23:18
Originally posted by eric m

MacMartin,i wish it was nonsense but the EEC legislation wants to ban alcohollevels higher than 40% for their own market,it is a matter of years that this level is standard.Only for duty free it will be a bit higher.The present situation they allow it but eventually they get their way(another example is to forbid any non-pasturized cheese,they also work on a law to stop that too!).And if i were wrong why does my neighbour has to smuggle a litchibrandy(80%)from Hong Kong into the Netherlands for me if it is legal to bring it with you?If you know other reasons why i`m eager to hear them from you.Greetings Eric m.


Wanting to ban is something quite different than it being a rule that as you stated in you first forumpost on this thread. Some politicians always want's to hinder trade. But at the present time there is no such law, and you can, in all EU member states, purchase cask strength whisky at any whiskyshop, also in Holland.

As for your neighboor I haven't got a clue why he felt he needed to smuggle it. On the pages of the Dutch Customs & Excise there are nothing stated about an upper limit on spirits - a limit that my country (Norway) has. Here anything above 60% is considered narcotics. This limit also existed in neighbouring Sweden until thet joined th EU in 1994.



Edited by MacMartin - 13.06.2007 at 23:19
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eric m
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Quote eric m Replybullet Posted: 14.06.2007 at 09:24

Before the EEC makes a law they already try to reach companies to let them know that new legislation is coming so they can be prepared an example is their smoking law,in the U.K. and Ireland you are not allowed to smoke in a pub or on your workspot while over here it`s no problem (YET!).I thougt that in 2010 smoking will be forbidden everywhere and countries decide for themselves a date, so by the time that it is a law every country already is smokefree.It depends on the willingness of national parlements how fast they accept the law.Your country is supposed to be a bit of a dissident state(not my wordsSmile)so it will take perhaps some more time for you but it will come.Eric m.

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jamie
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Quote jamie Replybullet Posted: 25.06.2007 at 22:52
A friend of mine recently gave me a very old bottle of johnnie walker it looks about 20 years old. The size of the bottle says 13 and a third FL.OZS and it says 70 proof (35%). As i always thought the minimum% of scotch was 40% i wondered if this was a new rule. can anyone help?
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MacMartin
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Quote MacMartin Replybullet Posted: 27.06.2007 at 17:40
70 proof equals 40% alc. vol. when using British proof. 70 proof US would equal 35%.
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