Tatlock & Thomson

Tatlock & Thomson Ltd is a specialist analytical laboratory based in Leven, Fife, Scotland, with an unbroken history of supporting the Scotch whisky industry since 1891. Operating from Tatlock House — a purpose-built laboratory facility opened in 2013 and located at The Teuchats, Leven, KY8 5PF — the company has grown from its Victorian-era roots into a modern, internationally recognised testing partner for distillers, blenders, and exporters of alcoholic beverages. As Managing Director Dr Harry Riffkin has noted, the company's longstanding involvement in both domestic and international whisky trade carries a major and continuing responsibility to the industry, one the laboratory meets by delivering rapid, accurate analytical services across a comprehensive range of testing disciplines.

The laboratory's primary offering centres on Certificates of Analysis (COA) for alcoholic beverage export, and its COAs are recognised worldwide. Standard certificates cover a full panel of legally and commercially required parameters: alcohol by volume, total solids, total acidity, fixed acidity, volatile acidity, methanol, higher alcohols, furfural, total aldehydes, and total esters. Beyond the standard panel, Tatlock & Thomson provides additional analyses tailored to the specific import requirements of individual countries. For Brazilian export, additional parameters include total sugars, coefficient of congeners, and the sum of furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). For Turkish market requirements, certificates are structured to show value ranges that take measurement uncertainty into account. The lab holds accreditation from the Brazilian government in addition to its UKAS accreditation, making it one of very few UK laboratories with this dual recognition for spirit export compliance.

Analytical instrumentation at Tatlock House is extensive and spans multiple platforms suited to trace-level and compositional analysis of complex beverage matrices. The laboratory is equipped with ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) for multi-element metal analysis at parts-per-billion levels in water and alcoholic beverages, GC-MS (gas chromatography–mass spectrometry), GC-FID (gas chromatography with flame ionisation detection) for higher alcohols and esters, HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography), and IC (ion chromatography). This instrumentation portfolio enables testing across a broad analyte scope including plasticisers — specifically DBP (dibutyl phthalate), DEHP (di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate), DINP (diisononyl phthalate), and related compounds — as well as specific gravity, density, sulphur dioxide, beta-phenylethyl alcohol, and ash. Tatlock & Thomson's testing scope aligns with BS 8636, the British Standard covering the use of analytical parameters and methods of analysis for whisky.

Beyond regulatory compliance and export certification, the laboratory provides a range of research, product development, and quality-assurance services to distilleries and spirit producers. Research capabilities include analysis of phenols in both malt and finished whisky, maturation congeners and wood lactones, and sulphur compound profiling — all of which are critical to understanding spirit character, identifying production faults, and optimising maturation. The laboratory also offers malt predicted spirit yield testing, helping producers maximise efficiency in raw material selection. A dedicated sensory panel, housed in a recently added laboratory, complements the instrumental work: panels assess new make spirits to detect off-notes such as sulphur compounds early in production, identify top-quality batches, support comparative yeast and barley trials, and assist with maintaining product consistency batch to batch.

Water testing is an additional service area. Tatlock & Thomson conducts water analysis to meet the requirements of the Private Water Supplies (Scotland) Regulations 2017, serving distilleries and other operators that source from private water supplies and must demonstrate regulatory compliance. Given that water quality is foundational to spirit production, this capability integrates naturally with the laboratory's broader distillery service offering. Metal analysis via ICP-MS is available for both process water and finished beverage matrices.

Accreditation and staff qualifications underpin the laboratory's credibility as an international testing partner. Tatlock & Thomson is UKAS-accredited to ISO 17025, the international standard for testing and calibration laboratory competence, and is a recognised member of the ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) framework — meaning its results are accepted in signatory countries worldwide without re-testing. In addition to the Brazilian government accreditation noted above, the lab provides certificates in English and other languages to facilitate international trade documentation. The team includes staff holding doctoral degrees, MChem, MEng, BSc, and DipDist (Diploma in Distilling) qualifications, supported by continuous professional development. Key personnel include Jack Smeaton as Deputy Technical Manager, Jireh Gordon as Quality Manager, and Karen Lavelle managing administration and client intake.

For distilleries, blending houses, exporters, import agents, and spirit brand owners requiring compliant, internationally accepted certificates of analysis — or for producers seeking deeper analytical insight into their production, raw materials, or maturation processes — Tatlock & Thomson represents one of the most specialised and longest-established testing laboratories in the Scotch whisky sector. The combination of ISO 17025 accreditation, Brazilian government recognition, broad instrumentation, sensory panel capacity, and over 130 years of industry-specific experience makes the laboratory a one-stop partner for the full spectrum of analytical needs in alcoholic beverage production and export.