The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Trade Bureau has started to create an official “American Single Malt” designation, reports The Denver Gazette.

The rules to qualify as an American Single Malt whiskey are as follows:

Made from 100% malted barley

Distilled entirely at one distillery

Mashed, distilled and matured in the United States of America

Matured in oak casks of a capacity not exceeding 700 liters

Distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume)

Bottled at 80 (U.S.) proof or more (40% alcohol by volume)

The Bureau currently in the public comment phase of the process to “set forth the standards to identify distilled spirits,” according to its website. TBB officials said the proposal came after years of industry lobbying, mostly by the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission.

US distillers of single malt whiskey feel that by having the designation, it will put them on the same par as bourbon, Irish whiskey, and Scottish whisky.