Smoky Spirits 03: Location, Location, Location
The Chemistry of Terroir: What Peat Type Tells Us About Smoke
Peat isn’t just burned plant matter—it’s millennia of compressed moss, heather, grass, and wood, broken down by microbes in wet, oxygen-poor conditions.
If you’ve been following along, Lesson 01 introduced us to simple phenols—those loud, smoky front-row players that smell like bonfires, hospitals, and burnt Band-Aids.
Lesson 02 opened the curtain wider, showing us the full flavor ensemble created by peat smoke: from clove-y guaiacols to incense-like aromatics and savory nitrogen compounds.
But today, we’re going underground.
Because where the peat is sourced has a massive influence on which compounds survive the burn—and how your smoky whisky ends up tasting. Not all peat is created equal, and this lesson digs into why.
In this lesson, we’re covering:
How geography, vegetation, and climate shape peat composition
What compounds are dominant in different types of peat
A case study on Scotch peat from six regions
What flavors to expect from different terroirs
How this shapes the whisky you drink
