The climate crisis upends life in countless ways large and small, including potentially ending one beloved 1,000-year-old tradition.
Peated whiskies, flavored with decaying organic matter from bogs, could soon be a casualty of new regulations designed to protect peatlands—among the Earth’s most potent carbon sinks.
In the U.K., the government is moving aggressively to end commercial uses of peat and protect peatlands. Long used in gardening as a rich source of compost, the practice is being abandoned as national bans on peat use take shape. When those gardening-focused bans are fully implemented, peat’s role in the whisky industry—which historically accounted for just a sliver of peat use—will make up a much larger percentage of commercial peat usage.
This week, a cluster of 10,000-year-old peatlands in England were designated as national nature reserves. New legislation proposed earlier this year aims to extend bans on burning across peatlands, a last-ditch effort to restore the 80% of England’s peat bogs that are currently considered degraded. The U.K. is home to 13% of the world’s peat bogs, which comprise only 3% of the Earth’s surface area but store nearly one-third of its carbon.
“Our peatlands are this country’s Amazon rainforest—home to our most precious wildlife, storing carbon and reducing flooding risk,” Mary Creagh, the U.K.’s nature minister, said.
Whisky beyond peat
While plenty of whiskies are peat-free, peat is the signature ingredient that creates the smoky, complex flavors that many Scotch whisky drinkers seek out. Peated whisky has a reputation as an acquired taste, but it commands special respect in the industry for its depth of flavor and its link to traditional production methods in Scotland and Ireland.
Peat comes into play when malted barley is dried with a kiln. Peat added to the flames produces thick smoke that then envelopes the grains, infusing them with layers of flavor drawn out of the earth itself. Pulling peat out of the peated whisky process would be a break with tradition, but one that would leave the industry much better adapted to a changing climate long term.
As other industries have moved away from peat, the search for alternatives is on. In gardening, coconut coir (made from the fibrous husks of coconuts) is a popular choice. Wood shavings, rice hulls, leaf litter, and kitchen waste compost are other options, though some you might prefer to not make themselves known to your palate at your next whisky tasting.
