I don't think I understand. You seem to be saying that these things are only nominally different but single malt whisky is vastly superior to a blended one and Roquefort is heads and shoulders above blue cheese although not as good as Stilton.
There are some very good single malt whiskies made outside of Scotland. They are made in the same way using stills designed after some in a Scots distillery. They use peated barley mash. They cannot call it "Scotch" because it is not distilled, bonded, taxed and made in Scotland. There are a couple of Japanese single malt whiskies that have gotten excellent reviews and taste like very high-end single-malt Scotch. Other countries make them as well. I only used single-malt because it is not a blend. And people associate it with good quality Scotch. I personally like several blended Scotch Whiskies. As well as single-malts.
I don't like either Roquefort or Blue Cheese, never had Stilton. So I can't comment on the quality of cheeses that smell like well-used gym socks. I only know that American cheese makers for years sold American blue cheeses as being "Roquefort Cheese" and were sued by French cheese makers who objected saying that only this type of Cheese, made in the Roquefort region can be called Roquefort. Ditto Champaign.
Sherry is only made in a particular part of Spain. No one else can use that term for their wine. There is a legal battle going on about who can legitimately call their product "Balsamic".
All of these names for product categories have tremendous cachet and marketing power. People will pay more for Roquefort cheese than they will Blue Cheese. Scotch Whisky is a highly desired product sold around the world. The copy cats are gaining in popularity, but still lag in commanding the higher prices.
The reason brands are jealously guarded and defended is because a good one with high recognition can demand more money for the products sold under that brand. That applies to some product categories.
Napa Valley for example. There have been several studies done that have provided a free bottle of wine to diners in an upscale test kitchen/restaurant if they were willing to answer a questionnaire after the meal. The meals served were identical. The wine served was identical, the only thing that changed was the label on the wine. Some had a made up name of a winery located in Napa Valley. The other label said it was made in some other state.
The findings showed that the people who thought the wine was from Napa Valley rated the wine higher than the other state brand. They also gave the quality of the meal higher marks as well! Just because the diners thought their wine was a higher quality from a well known area in California. They made the association that the meal was better because of the wine served with it.
The point I was trying to make is that Hawaii jealously guards the name “Koa” against others claiming that the Acacia grown elsewhere is Koa.
Perception is reality.