Which distiller uses the highest peat PPM?

by **Scotty Mc** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 7:36 pm

I think it may be Ardbeg but I'm not sure?!

I'm looking around for a whisky that will quite frankly blow my face off and the higher the PPM the better!

by **les taylor** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:10 pm

I do beleive that Bruichladdich have a whisky in maturation that has a ppm of 80.5. Which is reputedly to be the worlds most heavily peated whisky.

by **Virginia Gentleman** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:23 pm

I really am not sure but I think it is Laphroaig.

by **Lawrence** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 2:08 am

Bruichladdich Octomore I understand

by **Virginia Gentleman** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 2:35 am

Okay so Bruichladdich Octomore will be the highest but what is the current highest?

by **Admiral** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:08 am

The peatiest whisky available on the market at the moment, in terms of phenols in ppm, would be the Glenmorangie-produced Ardbegs, i.e. the Ardbeg Very Young bottlings (six and seven years old, etc).

The malt specification for these was set at 50ppm (yes, the same as Laphroaig), but bear in mind that much of the phenols are lost in the fermentation and distillation process. Ardbeg elected to mill and process their grain differently so as to retain the husks, thereby effectively increasing the level of the phenols left in the wash.

Octomore and its variants (Bruichladdich are doing a fair bit at the moment! :wink:

) will be higher, but they are obviously not presently on the market.

Cheers,
Admiral

by **Admiral** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:09 am

The peatiest whisky available on the market at the moment, in terms of phenols in ppm, would be the Glenmorangie-produced Ardbegs, i.e. the Ardbeg Very Young bottlings (six and seven years old, etc).

The malt specification for these was set at 50ppm (yes, the same as Laphroaig), but bear in mind that much of the phenols are lost in the fermentation and distillation process. Ardbeg elected to mill and process their grain differently so as to retain the husks, thereby effectively increasing the level of the phenols left in the wash.

Octomore and its variants (Bruichladdich are doing a fair bit at the moment! :wink:

) will be higher, but they are obviously not presently on the market.

Cheers,
Admiral

by **Dubois** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:29 am

For me, no doubt the highest peat I've found is in Laphroaig and the younger Ardbegs.

by **kallaskander** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:24 am

Hi there,

the most expressive and peated in terms of ppm whisky you can get at the moment are the Ardbeg Very Young and Still Young.
There may be some interesting variations of normally unpeated whiskies around that can compete (Ballantruan from Tomintoul, Ballechin from Edradour, Iona from Tobermory, Benriach from the Signatory bottlings, probably some Jura, Octomore and Port Charlotte from Bruichladdich, Longrow from Springbank and what else brewing in various distilleries at the moment because peat is en vogue). Not to forget the likes of Mosstowie Glencraig or others which are made no more.
And the usual suspects like Caol Ila Talisker or Lagavulin could make a higher peated malt any time as could any other distillery. Bunnhabhain does it. A friend of mine even saw casks with the label "Peated" at Arran Distillery and took some pictures. They said it is only an experiment. Let´s hope it is more.
Port Charlotte which gives the Laddie 3D and Moine Mhor the peat will be sold by Bruichladdich by Autumn or the end of the year. It will be at the peat level of Lagavulin or Talikser (about 40ppm). Not quite in the Ardbeg class but at about 6-7 years of age certainly very interesting.

Greetings
kallaskander

by **Deactivated Member** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:22 am

None of the Glencraig I have tried has been peaty. And do remember, if you want smoke you get the best effect by standing next to a bonfire - good whisky should bring more to the party than just smoke.

by **bamber** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:31 am

Ardbeg VY is £20 at oddbins at the moments - old stock so the dullards are selling it cheap :roll:

by **les taylor** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:14 am

Hi Bamber just checked out Oddbins and they have no Ardbeg Very Young. Is it just a local shop near you. If it is could you get me a couple of bottles. I'll send you a cheque. Les.

by **Aidan** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:47 pm

Jim McEwan

by **Deactivated Member** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 1:55 pm

Hector MacDram

by **Admiral** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:38 am

Hi Kallaskander,

Glencraig was simply Glenburgie operating with Lomond Stills. AFAIK, they didn't actually make any heavily-peated whisky under the Glencraig banner.

Cheers,
Admiral

by **thehighking** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:11 am

I believe Bruichladdich uses 160ppm.

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:29 am

thehighking wrote:I believe Bruichladdich uses 160ppm.

That's this year. Next year it will be 320ppm.

by **kallaskander** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:07 pm

Hi there,

afasik the Glencraig used a different mash bill and it is a peatier version of the Glenburgie most of the times. There are bottlings from Signatory and other IBs which mention peat in their tasting notes. It is not a peat monster but is dstinctively peated most of the times. That makes it very different from the usual Glenburgie and was one of the reasons it received its own name apart from the fact that it was being distilled in Lomonds.

Greetings
kallaskander

by **kallaskander** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:12 pm

Hi there,

Bruichladdich intented to make a malt with 80 ppm phenols in the malt. The have tested some barrels after some time (don´t know when exactly so no idea if it was new make or whisky already) which had 125 ppm and more. But I don´t think even they would not go up to 160, 320 or whatever. Now, do I? :roll:

Would you volunteer to sample something like this?

Greetings
kallaskander

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:21 pm

kallaskander wrote:Hi there,

afasik the Glencraig used a different mash bill and it is a peatier version of the Glenburgie most of the times. There are bottlings from Signatory and other IBs which mention peat in their tasting notes. It is not a peat monster but is dstinctively peated most of the times. That makes it very different from the usual Glenburgie and was one of the reasons it received its own name apart from the fact that it was being distilled in Lomonds.

Greetings
kallaskander

I have tried a number of Glencraigs and none of them was peaty. The predominent flavours were flowers and chemicals.

by **kallaskander** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:14 pm

Hi there,

of course people differ in how they experience taste, but the supposedly ‘oily’ character of Lomond still whiskies is not so much a matter of taste, but more of mouthfeel, of body, and therefore less likely to vary between people. The Belgian whisky club Slainté recently organised a tasting where, in two trios, they compared Lomond still whiskies with their sister whiskies from traditional pot stills. The first trio consisted of a 16 y.o. Glenburgie bottled by Cadenhead, a 13 y.o. Glenburgie bottled by Gordon & MacPhail and a 20 y.o. Glencraig bottled by Cadenhead; all three whiskies were bottled at cask strength. Here’s a summary of their notes on palate and finish:

Glenburgie 1985 - 16 y.o. (Cadenhead)
aggressive, smoky, spicy, almond-vanilla-caramel, sweet fruity

Glenburgie 1990 - 13 y.o. (Gordon & MacPhail)
soft, round, oily, dark chocolate, raisins, fruit cake, sherry, smoky

Glencraig 1981 - 20 y.o. (Cadenhead)
fruity, sweet, vanilla, nuts, peaty, buttery

from http://celticmalts.com/journal-a31.htm

I think that there were unpeated Glencraigs around, but some of this experimental stuff developed peat along the line it seems. But I think you are right, the peat was only occasional the same as there is only one bottling of a Glencraig from a sherry cask known.

Greetings
kallaskander

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 5:29 pm

Since the tasting notes from the Belgian whisky club found all six whiskies smoky or peaty - including the two Miltonduffs, which I have never found remotely smoky either - I suspect there was a rogue taster who "finds" peat or smoke in everything.

by **Lawrence** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 10:36 pm

Nick Brown wrote:- I suspect there was a rogue taster who "finds" peat or smoke in everything.

Wasn't there a rogue taster in Singapore a few years back? Drank all the bank's whisky? I seem to remember that he was 160 ppm

by **corbuso** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 12:55 pm

Just some comments about Phenol, peat and PPM.

- Ardmore, Ardbeg, Isle of Jura, Bruichladdich and some other distilleries have produced some heavily peated whiskies. The most heavily peated spirit was distilled by Bruichladdich with its second batch of Octomore with a phenol content in the range of 100-120 ppm.

- The ppm (part per million) which are indicated in the different posts refer to the content of total phenol in the barley after kilning. Depending on the grinding, mashing and distillation, the ppm in the spirit will be between 30 and 50 % of its original level. As mentioned in one book (sorry, I don't have the reference in head, probably Peat, Smoke and Fire), but Ardbeg managed to increase the phenol content by almost 50% by "recycling" the husk of the barley.
- The total phenol concentration does decrease with time. Therefore, whiskies are more "peated" then they are young.

- The total phenol concentration can be determined by colorimetric assay or by HPLC. Both techniques leads to different results.

- And finally, Port Ellen distillery made some peating tests and reached a concentration of phenol of over 400 ppm. Don't know if industrial production of this peated barley would be possible and don't know if the yeasts would like it.

Corbuso

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www. whisky-news.com

by **dram_time** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 10:03 pm

Scotty Mc wrote:
I'm looking around for a whisky that will quite frankly blow my face off and the higher the PPM the better!

Last December, 2005, I bought and drank a bottle of Laphroaig 'single malts of scotland' bottling from the whisky exchange. was from a single, very peaty cask.

imagine my shock at the first mouth full, at cask strength !!!

It really did blow my face off !!!

sadly, there are no more of this one to buy.

Dt

by **irishwhiskeychaser** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:21 am

I would imagine try a Dalwhinnie ........ sure are they not the highest distillery so their ppm would technically be higher than anybody else :lol:

Which distiller uses the highest peat PPM?

Which distiller uses the highest peat PPM?

Re: Which distiller uses the highest peat PPM?