How much do you know about peated malt whisky? Here, three ambassadors share their knowledge of the smoky spirit.
Luke Hanzlicek
Who are you and what is your role?
The name is Luke Hanzlicek and I’m one of the Premium Spirits Ambassadors for Beam Suntory and The Exchange.
What are peated malts and how are they different?
Peated malts are single malt whiskies from various countries which have a wonderfully smoky and earthy characteristic to them. They are immensely different not only from country to country, but from distillery to distillery in each region. The way they differ from non-peated whiskies is due to the techniques used to malt the barley. For a peated whisky, to stop the barley from growing into a plant and using up its fermentable sugars it is dried by smoking it with peat. For a non-peated whisky the barley is dried with hot air.
How do consumers react to peated malts?
The whisky category as a whole is continuously getting stronger and stronger, as is the popularity of peated malts. Often when people say that they don’t like peated whiskies it’s because whoever gave them their first experience of peat started with one of the more bold and assertive ones. If you start someone’s peat journey with the likes of Highland Park, Hakushu or Connemara they can gradually work their way up to the likes of Bowmore and Laphroaig.
What is the interest in peated malts in the market?
At the whisky shows we have done this year it was interesting to see how many people wanted to start their day of tasting with Laphroaig. As Laphroaig is possibly the most polarising Whisky in the market we always recommend to those looking to start on Laphroaig that they head around and try the lighter styles of whisky and then come back to finish on Laphroaig.
What flavour profiles and ways of tasting are emerging in the market?
The flavour profiles between different peated whiskies are immense! If you look at our Beam Suntory portfolio we have everything from light to heavy and from different regions including Islay, Highlands, Orkney, Ireland and Japan. This is important because peat is like a time capsule of everything that has grown, died and decomposed in the area. With our peated Highland whisky (Ardmore), peated Japanese whisky (Hakushu) and peated Irish whiskey (Connemara), you get more of a campfire smoke while Highland Park gives you more of a floral or grassy smoke. Then we look at Islay with the likes of Bowmore and you experience an earthy, maritime smoke while Laphroaig gives you that medicinal/iodine peat experience.
What is your experience of peated whiskies where they come from?
The barrels play a key role. A whisky such as Highland Park, with its strong sherry cask influence is a great stepping stone for people getting into peated whiskies as they will pay more attention to the rich sweetness that you get from sherry cask aged whiskies.
Finally, what is your favourite peated malt and why?
My go-to whisky in general is Bowmore 12yo. I think it just has this amazing balance to it with the upfront grain and heather honey sweetness which is balanced out by a salty maritime note. The smoke is definitely there but it’s not too overpowering and continues to evolve on the back palate.
Dan Woolley
Who are you and what is your role?
Dan Woolley, National Whisk(e)y Ambassador for CCA and Beam Suntory.
What are peated malts and how are they different?
Connemara, Ardmore, Bowmore 12 & Laphroaig Select Cask. Four peated whiskies that gradually grow in their intensity in smoky flavours. Also different peat used in each expression displaying different styles of smoke.
How do consumers react to peated malts?
Different courses for different horses. Some people love and adore them, some people can’t palate them.
What is the interest in peated malts in the market?
Consumers are loving the idea of different levels and different styles of smoke. Most people think that there is only one style being intense Islay smoke and they are pleasantly surprised to find out that there are more delicate and fragrant styles of smoky whiskies.
What flavour profiles and ways of tasting are emerging in the market?
I have an incredible new activation coming into the market place with a very small number of hand selected bars activating Peated Malts of Distinction flavour paired boutique chocolate pairing flights. Each chocolate is flavour paired to the whiskies flavour but they also grow in intensity of smoke as well…. Up in Smoke, so to speak.
What is your experience of peated whiskies where they come from?
I have worked very closely with the distilleries and have a very in depth understanding of production, maturation and where the different flavours come from.
Have you been to the distilleries, how do they differentiate?
Yes, each distillery has their own individual way of making their whisky which is where they get their distinct flavour.
Finally, what is your favourite Peated malt and why?
Laphroaig! It’s the most distinct and unique flavoured whisky in the world.
Matt Barnett
Who are you and what is your role?
My name is Matt Barnett, I’m the premium spirits ambassador for The Blend, Beam Suntory’s membership program for bartenders.
What are peated malts and how are they different?
Generally speaking, malt whiskies are made from 100% malted barley, which is fermented into a wash or distiller’s beer and then distilled through a pot still into a new make spirit. The new make spirit is then matured in a variety of oak casks for a period of time. The peated part, refers to the malted barley during production, when the barley is still moist, it is exposed to the peat smoke in a malt kiln, the peat is burnt and smoke is fanned into a room full of malted barley, this is how we impart the distinctive smoky character that you find in certain whiskies. They are considered more complex, with more layers of flavour and aroma characteristics than the non peated types of whisk(e)y.
How do consumers react to peated malts?
Peated malts can be quite polarising to some consumers, however there are various levels of peat smoke that can be applied to the malted barely, making whiskies with various levels of intensity from subtle whiffs of smoke to intense bomb-fire blast of smoke which can be quite challenging. Strongly peated whiskies are not for everyone, but they add complexity and character unlike any other spirit and are strangely addictive keeping you coming back for more. Some of our peated malts have such a loyal following as they can’t be replicated. They are so distinct in their own peaty way.
What is the interest in peated malts in the market?
The single malts are only a small percentage of the entire whisky category, but it is growing in leaps and bounds and the consumer demographic is shifting quite dramatically. Peated malts make up a small portion of the malt whisky category but with the education through all the whisky events, festivals, industry training and consumer interests around the premium whiskey category we are finding more and more consumers discovering and enjoying these wonderful peaty malts.
What flavour profiles and ways of tasting are emerging in the market?
Sherry cask matured peated malts such as the Bowmore darkest and Laphroiag select cask are gaining keen interest with consumers. Adapting classic style cocktails by including a peated malt in the recipe have been emerging trends like smoky whisky sour or a smoky rob Roy.
Whisk(e)y dinners; pairing food with peated malts are also a noticeable trend on the rise, natural oysters served with a side of Bowmore is an incredible flavour matching experience salty, lemony, briny, smoky, sweet, delicious! A serving suggestion I learnt from staying on Islay and enjoying at the local pub, the harbour inn in the middle of Bowmore. I’m hosting a whisky dinner almost once a week with my customers at the moment.
What is your experience of peated whiskies where they come from?
Islay, a small island off the west coast of Scotland is probably the most famous whisky producing region for the peaty style of malts, but we also have whisky from some of the lesser known regions such as the highlands and the northern islands of Scotland, and we even have a peated single malt from Ireland, Connemara, so it’s great to highlight these whiskies when talking about the category too.
I’ve been fortunate enough to visit many of the whiskey distilleries I represent, including Islay, Scotland famous for peated malt whisky.
I’ve mined peat from the island by hand with traditional peat cutting tools and malted barley at the Bowmore distillery, the oldest islay single malt distillery on the island and one of the very few distilleries to still practice floor malting barley. I actually dived head first into the malt kiln full of barley being dried with peat smoke and came out covered in the malt from head to toe, so I guess in a few more years you will find a little of my essence in a bottle of Bowmore…….
Have you been to the distilleries, how do they differentiate?
I have been to many of the malt distilleries in the Beam Suntory portfolio, one noticeable difference is the type of peat they use with different characteristics from different regions where the peat is sourced, some peat can be quite floral and aromatic from the types of plants, mosses, seaweed and shrubs native to the area.
Another difference is the level of peat influenced in the malted barely — phenolic parts per million (ppm) is the measurement to define that peat level within the malt. Our Hakushu distillery in Japan utilises two types of peated malt- a lightly peated and heavily peated malt which they use young and old malt whiskies to create a combinations of different products.