To Peat or not to Peat (what is your preference?)

To borrow from William Shakespeare - to peat or not to peat is a bit of a fundamental when it comes to one's whisky palate.  

For the first couple of years we distilled unpeated barley (malt), until our distiller Pat suggested that we try a peated malt and so we bought a pallet of peated barley from our New Zealand growers and proceeded to start what has been an ongoing foray into peated whisky. It's taken us across to manuka smoke, and back to a traditional peat and the result has been the award-winning 'Bog Monster', and the lighter peated 'Moss'. 

While you can't buy these yet, you can sample them in our tasting pack, and we thought you might like to read more about peated whisky and so we bring you this excellent piece from the always-entertaining W&W ( article reposted from Whisky & Wisdom): 

Most whisky drinkers will remember and can pinpoint the first time they tasted a heavily peated whisky.  Like a fork in the road, it was probably a “love it or hate it” moment….there is rarely middle ground or ambivalence when your tastebuds first encounter a truly peaty, medicinal, smoky whisky.  But things change…

Would it be crude to suggest that Scotch whisky drinkers thus fall into three camps?  There are those that hate peated whisky; those that love peated whisky; and those that are actively and earnestly transitioning at some point between those two responses.  No matter where you sit on that three-pointed scale, this guide will assist you in understanding all the ins and outs of peat and the role it plays in Scotch whisky.  So settle in with a dram of your favourite malt and let’s cover some facts and dispel a few myths….   (please do click through to read this entertaining and informative article).