Spirit Drinks Verification Scheme

You must apply to HMRC for verification under the Spirit Drinks Verification Scheme if you produce or market a spirit drink with a protected UK geographical indication.

Geographical indications identify products as originating in the territory of a country, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic is attributable to its geographical origin.

The Spirit Drinks Verification Scheme protects the reputation and authenticity of spirit drinks with a geographical indication in the UK. These are:

Irish Whiskey, Irish Cream and Irish Poteen

use the look-up service to check if production facilities, brands or bulk importers are verified

prepare for a verification visit and read about the checks we carry out

Information on the look-up service is updated daily, for example if a new facility is verified or if a new brand is added.

You can contact the Spirit Drink Verification Unit by email at [email protected] if you:

want to confirm we have received your application for verification

think there are details missing or an error in the published details

are aware of a brand being marketed which is not on the list

In the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has overall policy responsibility for geographical indications.

HMRC’s role is to verify if products are compliant with the specifications in the respective Technical File and to publish details of production facilities, verified processes, bulk importers and verified brands.