Benromach Peat Smoke
$99.00
Out of stock
The Benromach Peat Smoke is wonderfully fruity and smoky single malt whisky, with no medicinal undertones. Sweet peat that’s really neat!
Out of stock
To understand peat you have to know where it comes from. It is really many years of decayed vegetation, mostly heather. On Islay that means that the heather is wind swept and sea sprayed. That ‘seaside influence’ carries into the heather, into the peat and eventually into the whisky. You can notice it as ‘iodiney’ flavours and saltyness. That happens when the barley is dried using this peat.
Bottlers Tasting Notes
Taste without water: there’s cracked pepper with sweet strawberry and orange flavours, a delicate hint of aniseed; combined with a lingering edge of bonfire embers.
About the Distillery

Now is it also important to note that many years ago, nearly all Scottish whisky was peated. It was the only fuel readily available to dry out the malted barley. What changed this was the industrial revolution in the UK. Underground coal mining in Wales, North of England and Scotland provided an easier source of fuel to dry the barley and heat the stills. Coupled with a growing railway network to transport it around the country.
So, most of the mainland distilleries stopped using peat. However, Islay has abundant peat and transport of coal by ferry was expensive. They kept peating their whisky (using mainly peat from Islay) and they became rightly famous for that.
What has that got to do with the Speyside whisky on offer this month. Well there is now a growing trend in many mainland distilleries to return to producing peated whisky to varying degrees.
The Benromach Peat Smoke is a great example, it uses Highland peat, harvested from peat bogs which lay far away from the influence of the sea. Burning this peat to dry the barley results in a rich, sweet smoke, more reminiscent of pipe tobacco and even smoked or barbecued meat than it’s salty Islay cousin. No Iodine!
The Benromach Peat Smoke expression displays Benromach’s signature hint of honey, playing beautifully with the more subtle, warming smoke of the Highland peat. If you’ve been turned off peat, this one might surprise you, and if you’ve always loved that smoky flavour rest easy in the knowledge that this dram has been heavily peated.
