Peat is responsible for scotch ’s clear-cut smoky nip , that palate - tingle fire that driveswhiskyfanatics to spendridiculous quantity of moneyon strong drink . The Islay region is peculiarly live for highly - peated scotch , with still like Laphroaig , Ardbeg and Lagavulin deliver the unbridled flavor of the little Scottish island to drinkers all over the world . But what exactly is peat , and why does it matter ?
Where Does Peat Come From?
Before being used in whisky production , peat can be rule in a bog . These peat bog — also fuck as peatlands or mire — are monolithic field built up over centuries . Bogs grow at about 1 millimeter per year , so an average 3 meter deep bog was create over the course of 3,000 age . The peat itself , a spongy stuff , is comprised of decayed plant matter — mostly moss .
Peat’s Burn
Peat ’s incrementally slow geological formation ironically counterpoint its improbably fast burn rate . take fire the dry out terf releases an immense amount of heat , something other peoples in the region put to capital habit to stay fond . The inflammable sludge is a relation of ember , and while it burns much faster than its more placeable sib , it ’s still a sluggish burn compared to wood .
How Peat Is Harvested
Traditionally , peat is edit out from the solid ground by hand , and the resulting “ sod ” is bundle into briquette to dry out . In the last C , however , global demand for peat as a fuel source has given ascent to enceinte scale , industrial origin using lumbering machinery , which resembles harvest harvest home more than coal mining . Peat answer for for 2 percentage of the Earth and is not a renewable resourcefulness , meaning it could become a scarce trade good in the years to come .
How Peat Is Used in Distilling
While there is a bit of peat in the H2O with which whisky is distilled , and peat is used to heat up the stillness , scotch ’s smoky savor come from peat ’s influence over the barley that makes up the whisky mash . After the barleycorn pass some time on the malt floor ( during which the starches in the barley are converted to soluble sugars that can be distilled ) , distiller halt the germination mental process by heat up the food grain up in a kiln . This is where the peat arrive in . distiller fume the barley with the peat , interpenetrate it with delicious earthy , campfire flavors , and transform it into malt .
The Difference Peat Makes
The precise flavor peat imparts to whiskey depend on the specific plant life that gave up their life to become fuel for our liquid enjoyment . fit in toWhisky Science , burning bog moss ( the peat moss that makes up most peat ) turn chemical substance compound name phenols that are absorbed by the barleycorn and make the smoky machine characteristic we get laid and have sex . Woody plants in the peat - premix check a slap-up percentage of other aromatic compounds like syringol and guaiacol , which create different tang . The mix of material within the peat is reflect in the savour it riddle into the whiskey .
phenylic acid levels are often used to equate scotches . Understanding a scotch ’s PPM ( Phenol Parts per Million ) can aid rig your expectations for how much smoke you ’re going to get before even popping the bottle . For exemplar , Springbank has a PPM of around 7 to 8 ( lightly smoky ) , while Talisker hovers between 25 and 30 ( evenhandedly smoky ) , and Ardbeg is all the manner up at 55 ( seriously smoky ) .
Now that you sleep with what peat is , it ’s time to taste its pleasant-tasting effects for yourself in one of these fantastic , smokyscotch cocktail .
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