A GUIDE FOR AB-INITIO PEATED WHISKY DRINKERS
What is Peat? Peat is an accumulation of
partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas
called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers 3.7 million square kilometres and is the
most efficient carbon sink on the planet, because peatland plants capture CO2
naturally released from the peat, maintaining equilibrium. Soils consisting
primarily of peat are known as histosols. Peat forms in wetland conditions,
where flooding or stagnant water obstructs the flow of oxygen from the
atmosphere, slowing the rate of decomposition.
Peatlands, particularly
bogs, are the primary source of peat; peat
is harvested as a source of fuel in certain parts of the world. By volume,
there are about 4 trillion cubic metres of peat in the world, covering a total
of around 2% of the global land area.
Traditionally peat is cut
by hand and left to dry in the sun. In many countries, including Ireland and
Scotland, peat was traditionally stacked to dry in rural areas and used for
cooking and domestic heating. Some Scotch whisky distilleries use peat fires to
dry malted barley. The drying process takes about 30 hours. This gives the
whiskies a distinctive smoky flavour, often called "peatiness". The
peatiness, or degree of peat flavour, of a whisky, is calculated in ppm of
phenol.
You either like peated
whiskies or you don’t; there is no halfway stage. The earliest peated whiskies
came from the rocky shores of Islay, off the southwest coast of Scotland—but
there are plenty of producers in Speyside capitalising on the growing fan base.
So much for Scotland-peated whiskies are made in good measure across the world,
in India, Germany, Japan, Taiwan and more.
Keen to try the best peated
whiskies but don't know where to start? The peated whisky spectrum, which was
dominated by Islay’s big three – Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg – now sees subtler
expressions on the global market that give off a taste of the wonderful
flavours peated whiskies are noted for without overpowering you.
Don’t let tasting notes
like medicinal, tar, smokey bacon, burning rubber, bonfires or brine, put you
off if you are unaccustomed to such things in your spirits – often these come
from whisky writers waxing poetic and giving you only a cursory idea of what
you can expect.
In fact, these flavours
will often roll around your tongue alongside others such as fruit, honey,
citrus, toffee and vanilla vying for the attention of your taste buds,
providing a rewarding drinking experience that will find you teasing out more
flavours each time you sip one of these wonderful whiskies. It is best to pick
out some of those whiskies that have a slightly lower PPM and more approachable
for someone starting out on the road to smokiness.
Benromach Peat Smoke 46%
ABV 80.5° Proof Speyside
Let’s start with a whisky from the mainland for a simple reason. I want to offer drams that aren’t your usual peaty favourites, i.e. not from Islay. I am a fan of this particular distillery because they make consistently great whiskies. The Peat Smoke has a subtly smoky flavour that is more earthy than the iodine notes of Islay whiskies. Robust and flavoursome; barbecued meats and citrus fruits battle it out for dominance to the background of a deliciously smoky finish. If you find the nose of this 9 YO a little too much then try the 10 year old, which offers only a kiss of peat before you graduate to to its more punchy stablemate.
It’s difficult to find
more heavily peated non-Islay malted whiskies. Benromach, as far as I can tell,
is peated from a local peat source – and I assume local is more local than
Islay. The reason that is significant is Islay peat has such a unique
characteristic with the heavy marine and medicinal aromas. Other areas of peat
are composed of other vegetation – so from a perspective of peat “terroir” it’s
always interesting to see different regions. It’s peated to 67 ppm, which is
quite a punch of peat – that’s more than Ardbeg! But it cannot compare with
Ardbeg’s peat, nor will it feel as strong.
The differences are
obvious: Island (and Islay) whisky is made from malted barley smoked over fires
of peat dug from ocean-adjacent peat bogs, often full of seaweed or beach
grasses and continuously sprayed by seawater-laden winds. The effect of that
peat is complex, funky, salty, medicinal, and downright bracing. Mainland peat,
however, is composed of Highland grasses and shrubs. When barley is smoked with
this peat, it becomes infused with a separate set of smells, like that of a
woodland campfire – slightly piney, but biased towards woodsmoke.
It is aged in first-fill
ex-Bourbon casks (from Heaven Hill and/or Jim Beam) for between 9 and 10 years,
although the bottle carries no age statement. The whisky is bottled at 46% ABV
with no added colour.
The Benromach distillery
has a rocky history of lengthy closures and juggling ownership since its
construction in 1898, but is now in the steady hands of independent bottlers
Gordon & MacPhail. The new owners refurbished the distillery and began
producing malt in earnest in 1998, and are now bringing a line of official
bottlings to market. The distillery uses water from a spring in the Romach
Hills, and proudly claims to use only first-fill barrels for aging whisky.
Springbank is a distillery
that is rightly lauded for its wonderful traditional whisky, and Longrow, their
peated expression, is a truly exceptional dram. With notes of charred
marshmallows and sweet fruits, it’s delightfully mooreish. Slightly meatier
than the Benromach, this will give more of a hint at what you can expect from
the smokier end of the spectrum. And should you be lucky enough to find a
bottle of Longrow Red, the annual cask release, then grab at with both hands as
its an even more wonderful version of this already delightful dram.
Longrow Peated is a cult
favourite. Longrow is fully peated and aged in ex-bourbon without any sherry
cask influence. It’s also not chill-filtered, has no added colouring (indeed
it’s quite pale), and has no age statement. I’d place it somewhere around 9
years, but it’s hard to tell since it’s possible for a blend of ages to be used
in NAS bottles.
Nose: Straightforward
smoke, with slightly briny peat. Sweet undertones of vanilla cream soda and
fresh hay, plus a strong lemon peel note. After a rest in the glass, the peat
takes a back seat to the lemon.
Palate: Syrupy body. Mild
tongue burn which quickly reveals earthy peat, slowly smoldering campfire
smoke, sandalwood, white peppercorn, and lemon custard.
Finish: Long. The best
parts of the peat continue through the finish, accompanied by the same lemon
note. Lingering flavors of fresh earth and smoke are joined by menthol. There
is only very little charcoal bitterness. The finish fades gracefully and
slowly, but without further evolution.
With Water: A few drops of
water initially mute the nose entirely (including all the peat), necessitating
a rest in the glass. First, a very shy floral note emerges, then business as
usual. It also seems to thin the body. Skip the water.
Overall: An elegant,
refined peat shares equal billing with decadent lemon oil. While there is no
mistaking this as anything but a fully peated malt, the peat is not as
in-your-face as other peated standards. On one hand this means less street credit
for braving the tongue-thrashing available in more popular whiskies. On the
other hand, this means the peat is better integrated, and serves as a contrast
rather than a focus. I’m not typically a fan of lemon-dominated whiskies,
however, as the aromas sometimes verge towards cleaning-product.
Springbank is a composite
of rarities. It is one of the very few distilleries that performs the entire
distillation process from malting on-site (its own floor maltings) to bottling
in its private bottling plant. In fact, it is the only fully self-sufficient
distillery on the Scottish mainland. Set in Campbeltown on the lyrical Mull of
Kintyre, it is also one of the few surviving distilleries (of three, with Glen
Scotia and Glengyle) from a once-great region of Scotch distillation. In 1887
there were 21 distilleries in Campbeltown, and it was sometimes called “The
Whisky City.” Hard times and a self-perpetrated degradation in quality during
the American period of Prohibition scoured the region, putting most distillers
out of business.
Springbank claims that
hand-turned floor maltings (as opposed to pneumatic or machine-aerated
commercial maltings), while labour-intensive, yield a malt that is better
because it germinates more slowly. The distillery uses traditional worm tubs, a
cast-iron mash tun, and employs mechanical ‘rummagers’ (to prevent a buildup of
burnt deposits) in the copper stills, which are heated with a combination of
steam and direct oil fire. Springbank uses three stills to create a 2.8-time
(not triple) distillation. Now hold on, because this math is tricky: The first
“wash” distillation produces so-called “low wines”, which are around 20%
alcohol. A second distillation produces an intermediate distillate, which is in
the neighborhood of 35% alcohol. A third still is charged with a solution of
80% of this double-distillate and 20% of the “low wines,” and a third
distillation is performed. Thus, in the final spirit, around 80% of the volume
has been triple-distilled, while around 20% of the volume has been
double-distilled. Hence, 2.8x distillation.
Springbank also makes Longrow (a peated malt) and (new in 2006) Hazelburn (unpeated, truly triple-distilled). These, along with the distillery’s flagship Springbank bottlings, are all non-chill-filtered, have no caramel coloring, and are reduced to bottling strength on-site with the same water used to produce the whisky. The water, like all Campbeltown whiskies, comes from the Crosshill Loch in the hills above the town, and is supplemented by a private well from a borehole drilled deep into the rock beneath the town. Note that the Springbank “CV” bottling, which is at a similar price-point, is purportedly a vatting of 6, 8, and 12 year-old malts (unverified), from different barrel finishes.
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Tomintoul with a Peaty
Tang Speyside, 40% ABV
World War II brought much
of Scotland’s distilling industry to a halt. Peace would eventually return in
1945, but it took several more years before barley stocks returned to a level
that would allow distilling to resume. The authorities were eager to give the
go ahead though, viewing whisky as an exportable product that would inject some
much needed income to the struggling
economy. With this government support, closed distilleries all over the country
sparked back into life. By the beginning of the 1960’s new distilleries were
being commissioned for the first time since the turn of the century; among them
Tamnavulin, Loch Lomond, Deanston and Tomintoul.
Tomintoul was founded in
1964. By the late 1980’s however, it had been taken over by the world renowned
Whyte & MacKay who envisioned the liquid as a key component in their
blends. They later sold to Angus Dundee Distillers in 2000. Angus Dundee master
distiller Robert Fleming joined the industry in 1974, earning his stripes at
various distilleries before joining Tomintoul in 1990. In the years since, he
has played a key role in the creation of the distillery’s first ever range of
single malt bottlings and worked with the new owners in 2000 to trial the use
of peated barley in the production process for the very first time. This
project culminated in the release of “Old Ballantruan” a heavily peated variant
of the Tomintoul malt, later followed in 2008 by the “Peaty Tang” bottlings.
Nose: Pleasantly malty
with toffee and vanilla, heather honey and an undercurrent of floral peat
smoke. Also apple and pear and freshly cut grass.
Palate: Smoke and ash
straight off the bat but fades to toffee and salted caramel. Apple juice and
malty biscuit before smoke returns for the finish bringing with it a touch of
dry oak.
Value for Money: A
reasonably priced every day sipper that possibly lacks a little in weight and
complexity but manages to offer enough flavour to justify a purchase. Nice to
see that lighter Speyside character with a blast of smoke behind it.
By no means one of the
better known Speyside malts, Tomintoul nevertheless appears in a fairly
extensive range of bottlings, with impressive diversity in the lineup. Peaty Tang
certainly seems one of the more appealing, at least to me, as it offers
something a little different than we have perhaps come to expect from
“Speyside-Glenlivet” drams. As always I’d love to see it bottled at higher
strength but the low ABV is likely reflected in the very affordable price. As
it is, this is a decent dram that can be enjoyed by everyone, instead of only
being attainable by those with bulging pockets
Ardmore Port Wood Finish 12
YO Highlands ABV 46%
The Port Wood Finish is
the latest addition to the core single malt range from the east Highland
distillery of Ardmore. It was released back in October of this year. The whisky is made in the distillery's
traditional mid-peated style, which has been produced there since the early
1900s. It is currently the only Highland
distillery to produce the majority of its whisky in the smoky style. This whisky has been aged in ex-bourbon casks
for 12 years before being finished in ex-Port half pipes. The Port Wood Finish
comes in the new brand packaging, featuring map-style graphics of the local
area and Ardmore's eagle logo.
The Ardmore distillery
sits in the hills in the village of Kennethmont, which is about 45 minutes
drive west of Aberdeen. It was founded in 1898 by William Teacher & Sons to
give them a consistent and constant supply for their increasingly popular
Teacher's blended Scotch brand. The distillery was designed by renowned
architect Charles Doig and the whisky produced there has featured in the
Teacher's range ever since. The first proprietary single malt was only released
in 2007. It is a large distillery with an annual capacity of 5.5 million litres
and many of the casks destined for release as Ardmore single malt are
warehoused on site.
The Port Wood Finish is
bottled at 46% ABV, is non chill-filtered and completes the Ardmore single malt
portfolio, which comprises of the Legacy and two travel retail exclusives - the
Tradition and the Triple Wood. It has a
recommended price of £50 and is available through selected specialist whisky
retailers.
Tasting Notes
The colour is a deep amber
gold and the nose has an interesting and complex mix of aromas. There is initial earthy peat that leaps from
the glass and this is complimented by some delicious caramel, dried dark fruits
(especially raisins) and stewed cranberries.
Underneath are hints of milky coffee, cocoa, cinnamon and mace.
On the palate the whisky
has a warming quality and a viscous mouth feel.
The sweet caramel and earthy peat notes are the first to appear and the
combination is very good. The peat is
soft and gentle. Then the fruity
characteristics begin to develop and these are a mix of crisp red apple,
raisins and the stewed cranberries from the nose. These are complimented by a further fruity
note of candied orange peel and a hint of strawberry jam. There are also elements of honey, toffee,
vanilla, delicate wood spices (especially cinnamon) and hints of milk chocolate
and charcoal ash.
The finish is long and
warming with plenty of initial sweetness.
The soft smokiness wraps around this and begins to domionate once the
sweetness, especially the caramel and fruit, start to fade. The result is a pleasant ashy dryness that
serves to also accentuate the woody spices.
This is a superb offering
from the much under rated Ardmore distillery.
Ex-Port casks are rarely used in the whisky industry in comparison to
ex-bourbon or ex-sherry and the products that are on the market are generally a
mixed bag. This Port Wood Finish is one
of the better examples that we can think of.
It is well worth checking out if the opportunity arises.
The addition of the
ex-Port casks during maturation has added a lovely set of characteristics to
the whisky, rather than dominate them.
These characteristics are complimented by the soft and gentle peat. It also offers good value for money in our
view as it has an age statement, an interesting cask finish, is non
chill-filtered and presented at 46% ABV.
All of these criteria increasingly carry a premium these days.
Allt-á-Bhainne 40% ABV Speyside
Pronounced “Alt-Uh-Bunya”,
Allt-á-Bhainne is an interesting peated Scotch in that it hails from Speyside,
not Islay, offering a completely different flavour profile to that which most
drinkers are used. The traditionally sweet and spicy flavours of Speyside are
here propped up by the restrained use of locally-sourced peat, creating a smoky
Scotch whisky like no other. It’s also one of the lowest-cost options on this
list, making it an easy one to keep on the shelf if you’re on a low budget.
A Speyside’s workhorse,
Allt-a-Bhainne was one of the first distilleries designed to be operated by one
person. Back in the 70’s they said one shouldn’t mix peat with Speyside, that
smokiness and sweetness couldn’t work. But Allt-á-Bhainne followed its nose and
started distilling whisky their way, bringing out its first whisky in 1975.
Speyside is known for its
fruity whiskies but we went against the grain, bringing peat to the rugged
mountain ranges. We’ve created a single malt whisky with an unconventional
flavour that’s just a bit different.
We're not a typical
whisky. Born in the 1970's, we're proud to stand from the crowd. Why not take
a walk on the wildside, not a dram by the fireside. With notes of soft red
apples, sweet runny honey, delicate smoke and toffee. The perfect pairing of
peat and sweet. The new single malt on the block for a new generation of
drinkers. Allt-A-Bhainne, the sweetly peated single malt.
The Allt-A-Bhainne whisky
was meant to serve as one of the lead malt whiskies in the Chivas Regal blends.
So you will find the products of the distillery in Chivas Regal, Passport and
100 Pipers. The distillery is in active production and is said to produce 4
million litres of pure alcohol per year. Today there are no original bottlings
of Allt-A-Bhainne. You will only find independent bottlings that carry the name
of the distillery.
The Pot Stills: Allt-A-Bhainne
is known for its Still Room. There are two spirit stills (14,500 litres) and
two wash stills (22,000 litres) at the distillery. The wash still is very
pear-shaped and the lyne arm rises after the neck. This would suggest a very
rough whisky. But more important is the shape of the spirit still. The base is
kept very round with a reflux bowl on top of the conical neck. The neck of the
spirit still is also very tall. This rounds off the whisky and prevents sharp
aromas from going into the spirit. All equipment is contained in a single room
with the mash tun at one end and the four stills at the other. Originally
designed to produce a light, estery malt for blending requirements, in recent
years it has also occasionally produced a heavily-peated variant.
Allt-a-Bhainne is only very occasionally seen as a single malt bottling.
Its modernist design
singles Allt-a-Bhainne out as an oddity within Speyside, a region whose
distilleries often seem to have sprouted from the bedrock. It was built by
Seagram during a period of growing optimism in the Scotch industry when the
Canadian firm (which at the time owned Chivas Regal) was increasing its
production capacity. It has had a chequered history with periods of being placed
into mothballs (the most recent being between 2003 and 2005). With global
demand rising, owner Chivas Brothers, under Pernod Ricard, has it in full
production once again.
Tomatin Cù Bòcan Signature NAS HIGHLANDS
46% ABV
Thanks to Tomatin’s
lightly peated barley, every Cù Bòcan creation holds its signature wisp of
smoke. That’s why each edition is an exploration in the subtleties of smoke,
the characters of the casks and the mastery of maturation. The Signature is an
eye catching rebrand for the Cu Bocan Single Malt whisky, a lightly peated non-chill
filtered natural colour malt whisky that has been matured in a combination of
ex-Bourbon, ex-oloroso Sherry and virgin American oak casks, and is said to
contain ‘subtly smoky, surprisingly sweet’ notes of ‘rich citrus and exotic
spices’.
It is Tomatin’s much
improved wood policy which has brought it to the notice of single malt lovers. The
higher percentage of first-fill casks has given more flesh and structure to the
always top-notch spirit. In the whisky that made their name, light smoke
intertwines with rich citrus and exotic spices. This opens up the world of
lightly peated whisky to those who want to try the more smokier malts.
Located just south of Inverness, production of whisky in the village of Tomatin can be traced all the way back to the 1700s. The earliest of distillers used juniper wood for their distillation process. Legal whisky distillation would, however, only begin in 1897 when John MacDougall, John MacLeish, and Alexander Allan joined hands to form the Tomatin Spey District Distillery. Choosing this location was no accident. The location was isolated enough for a supply of untouched freshwater and yet not so far away that markets became inaccessible.
Although the first
manifestation of Tomatin only ran between 1897 and 1906, its reopening under
new management in 1909 saw the start of a remarkable journey which would
culminate in this remote Highland outpost becoming the largest malt whisky
distillery in Scotland by 1974. Aggressive expansion saw it grow from two stills
to four in 1956 reaching 23 in 1974, with an overall capacity of 12m litres per
annum. This bubble couldn’t last.
After nearly a century of
glorious distillation, Tomatin’s bubble burst in 1985. Ironically it was the
production of whisky and the downturn of the 1980s that caused this and Tomatin
was forced to liquidate. In 1986, they joined up with their partner of 20
years, Takara Shuzo Ltd., to form the Tomatin Distillery Company — Scotland’s
first distillery to be wholly owned by a Japanese brand. The change in ownership
proved to be a beneficial one with the Tomatin brand growing in its own right.
In 1997, Tomatin Distillery Co. acquired J&W Hardie, adding the legendary
Antiquary blend to its offerings.
The 1988 Limited Edition
Cu Bocan is one of the best this distillery has to offer. At 51.5% ABV, the
1988 is a blend of refill hogshead and refill sherry matured whisky distilled
on December 2, 1988. The whisky has a peaty nose reminiscent of campfire smoke
and ash which slowly gives way to toasted coconut, freshly cut grass, and
heather. In the mouth, the whisky opens up a little more, letting you get a
peek into a world of candied tropical fruits, earthy peat, and blood orange.
The finish of earthy smoke and oak spice transports you into the woods and
evidence of the legend of the beast.
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