The UK’s peat bogs are remarkable. Apart from their damp beauty, they are home to rare wildlife, act as a water filter and a ballast against flooding, and, perhaps most crucially of all, are a somewhat unsung hero of the battle with the climate crisis given their carbon-capturing power. Peat bogs are Scotland’s largest carbon store.
That combination of attributes means peatlands have long been an environmental cause celebre, and explains why even this most part-time, pallidly green of governments has at last seen a reason to protect them, with the most high-profile piece of legislation so far being a ban on peat products for domestic gardeners, which will see composting products – already pretty much infra dig – entirely absent from garden centres by the end of 2024.
It’s also why the scotch whisky industry is starting to feel a little nervous about how long its own relationship with peat can continue. Don’t forget, whisky and peat go back centuries together, a partnership which, for lovers of a peaty dram, is as precious and remarkable as anything else to do with peat: when barley is malted above a peat fire, it gives the resulting whisky that distinctive, damp-earthy-smoky flavour which many would argue is the quintessence of scotch.
As well as making the point that whisky accounts for only about 1% of the UK’s peat use, defending the cultural significance of this tradition has been the central pillar of the scotch industry’s case during the Scottish government’s consultation on its peat policy this year. Pledges to make peat use more sustainable have also been part of the lobbying mix – although the idea that peat use can ever be truly sustainable given the glacial pace of regeneration (1mm a year) is a matter of some debate.
Would an outright ban on industrial peat use in the short or medium term, which some producers fear may be the result of the consultation, spell the end of scotch as we know it?
Well, apart from the fact that many whiskies have always have been “unpeated” (the elegant style of distilleries in Speyside, for example, that use unpeated barley), some makers have been experimenting with methods of replacing or reducing peat in their fuller-flavoured whiskies by using other aromatic fuels during kilning. These include juniper, birch bark, heather and alder wood. Some are even experimenting with biochar (a high carbon form of charcoal) and sheep dung, while others are using smokier, toastier barrels for ageing. None can ever quite replace the uniquely evocative hit of peat smoke. But between them they are likely to play an ever bigger role in shaping the flavours of whisky at a time when an increasing number of peat-lovers are looking to put planet before palate.
Five unpeated whiskies and one with just ‘a little peat’
Bruichladdich Classic Laddie Islay Single Malt Whisky
(from £36, Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose)
The island of Islay in the Inner Hebrides is known for its uncompromisingly peaty-smoky whiskies. This stylish bottling, however, is entirely unpeated, but has a distinct whiff of the sea in gentle summer breeze mode along with a lemon-barley character which is fresh and subtly tangy.
Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old Islay Single Malt Whisky
(£46, bunnahabhain.com)
Another unpeated style from the home of heavily peated whisky, Bunnahabhain’s 12 Year Old has a mouthwatering salty character running through it, and great complexity for the price, with maturation in sherry and bourbon casks bringing fruit and nut richness.
Arran 10 Year Old Single Malt Whisky
(£46.50, arranwhisky.com)
From the eponymous isle, this is a delightful example of unpeated whisky in a creamily accessible style in which fruit loaf, apples and pears meet with a certain honeyed sweetness and a long, appetisingly savoury finish. Great with a slab of mature cheddar.
Kyrö Wood Smoke Malt Rye Whisky
(from £50, laithwaites.com; cambridgewine.com)
Scotland isn’t the only place where peat is a concern for whisky producers: Scandinavia’s burgeoning scene is also looking at ways to go without, with the excellent Finnish distiller Kyrö here using the traditional alder-wood smoke to bring a nourishingly spicy, gently smoky dram.
Fettercairn 12 Year Old Highland Single Malt Whisky
(from £43.89, hedonism.co.uk; Selfridges; masterofmalt.com)
This wonderful old distillery in the foothills of the Cairngorms makes unpeated whiskies of sumptuous tropical richness and compelling complexity, using, here, ex-bourbon barrels (other expressions use Scottish oak) for a mouthfillingly drinkable dram with a zesty-spicy finish.
Glenmorangie A Tale of the Forest Whisky
(from £69.95, masterofmalt.com; thewhiskyexchange.com)
Glenmorangie’s latest release is a throwback to a Highland tradition of using a variety of different foraged “fuels” in its malt kilns: juniper, birch bark, heather, plus “a little peat”. The result is fascinating: flavours of crystallised orange and barley infused with subtle spice and herbal notes.
