Peat is used to add flavour to whisky right near the beginning of the whisky-making process – during malting. When peat smoke is used while malt is being dried, its smoke sticks to the husk of the barley and the flavour is carried all the way through the production process into the bottle. The flavour of that smoke is key and is almost entirely derived from what went into making the peat – local plants, different everywhere that peat is found.

In this class, The Whisky Exchange’s Billy Abbott will be joined by peatland scientist and author of Peat and Whisky: The Unbreakable Bond Mike Billett to try peaty whiskies from around the world and tease apart why they taste the way they do.

This is a unique opportunity to not only try whiskies made with wildly varying peats, but also hear from a peat expert about what makes them tick.