Diageo could be faced with legal action from whisky distillers over its plans to market its Cardhu brand as a‘pure malt’ rather than a ‘single malt’.

A group of distillers, including William Grant and Morrison Bowmore, have written to Diageo and the Scotch Whisky Association outlining solutions to resolve the dispute.

The proposals include renaming the brand, removing or altering the age statement on bottles or restricting demand for the spirit by upping its price until the issue of lack of stocks has been addressed.

The SWA meet on December 4.