It is a sensation that will be familiar to those who have enjoyed the tipples’ rich smoky notes.
Now the makers of some of the world’s most popular whiskies have a headache of their own as they face pressure to curb their use of the peat that gives the scotch its distinctive flavour.
Diageo, the drinks company, is being urged to change its production practices on the Scottish island of Islay for the sake of the planet.
The island is known for the peaty taste of its west coast whiskies, which include Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Caol Ila and Ardbeg. But with the Cop26 environment summit of world leaders approaching in Glasgow in November, NatureScot, Scotland’s environment protection agency, has asked for “urgent” discussions with Diageo about its use of the Castlehill site.
The NatureScot board has been told by officials that it faces “reputational risk” if it allows peat extraction to continue indefinitely.
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Peat bogs both soak up and store carbon and are seen as increasingly important in helping to tackle global warming. The agency has previously noted that when peat is extracted and burned, it “has the potential to release hundreds of years of stored carbon back into the atmosphere”.
NatureScot, which owns 86,000 acres of land in Scotland, says it should be a leader in “showcasing exemplary land management” with the challenge now to maximise its contribution to tackling climate change.
Castlehill, a 1000-acre site bought by NatureScot in the 1980s with extraction rights granted to Diageo to support the whisky industry and prevent damage to other peatlands on the island, will produce “significant carbon emissions” if peat cutting continues, an agency report has found.
Ben Ross, NatureScot’s head of protected areas and nature reserves, said Castlehill was bought and peat extraction rights granted to Diageo as a “sacrifice” to protect other more important peat bogs on the island.
He acknowledged that burning local peat to provide flavour is an important component of Islay whisky but was incompatible with plans to protect and restore peat bogs.
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“The issue here is that there is a real opportunity to work with Diageo and the wider whisky industry to mitigate the use of peat and restore peat bogs where possible,” said Ross. “They are fantastic products but can the use of peat be mitigated if possible? Are there other solutions to produce the same successful whiskies?”
Diageo said its Port Ellen maltings plant produces peated malt barley for the majority of the nine distilleries on the island, not just its own.
It pointed out that the Scotch whisky industry as a whole uses less than 1 per cent of all peat extracted in the UK, with the bulk being cut for the horticultural trade.
A spokesman said: “We take the use of peat extremely seriously and have worked for many years to reduce and minimise the amount required to produce the high quality peated malt barley for the whisky industry on Islay.
“We work with all stakeholders, including NatureScot, to manage our use of peat as carefully as possible. We are supporting significant peatland restoration and conservation projects.”
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Take the distinctive iodine, seaweed and Fisherman’s Friend peat reek tang out of Islay’s single malt whiskies and you’ll be left with a very dull spirit (Jane MacQuitty writes).
Whisky connoisseurs the world over, including me, have rated Islay’s memorable, medicinal, smoky, tarry twhack of flavour as some of the finest that Scotland produces. Thousands of pounds continue to be laid out by aficionados for the rarest, aged and vintage-dated whiskies from the island’s leading distilleries, such as Lagavulin and Laphroaig.
While the malodorous, dark brown, peaty local water used by the distilleries gives the island’s whisky part of its pungent flavour, it is the high peating levels of the barley that makes Islay whisky such a characterful shout. Given that a large proportion of Islay’s population is involved in whisky production, adding to the £5 billion or so in value whisky brings to the economy annually, it seems foolhardy, to say the least, to limit the island’s peat extraction.
In these troubled times, Scotland needs to hang on to every job it can. Although everybody involved in the business understands the importance of limiting carbon emissions, it is madness to hobble Islay’s whisky industry when the vast majority of carbon-storing peat in this country is cut by the horticultural trade.
One can only assume that no one at NatureScot rates a smoky Islay dram. More fool them.
