The UK is the world’s largest exporter of whisky, which has been distilled in Scotland for 500 years. But the peat used to flavour some Scotch whiskies is increasingly under the spotlight as the fight against climate change steps up.
The conservation of peatland will be a key talking point at the COP26 climate summit now under way in Glasgow, UK, because peat stores large amounts of carbon. Some estimates suggest that UK peatlands contain more than 3 billion tonnes of it – about the same as all the forests in France, Germany and the UK combined.
When peat is dug up, often to use as fuel or to make compost, carbon is released – and because peat takes thousands of years to form, it cannot be considered a renewable resource. This raises difficult questions for whisky producers.
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For generations, peat smoke has been used to enhance the flavour of the barley that goes to make whisky. It is still used in about a third of malt whiskies produced in Scotland, and accounts for about 6 per cent of the peat dug up in the country, according to , from 2014.
While it is plentiful in Scotland, the peat used in whisky is largely extracted from two areas: the Isle of Islay off the west coast, and Aberdeenshire in the north-east of the country.
, a government agency responsible for Scotland’s natural heritage, has had a deal with one whisky producer, Diageo, since 1974 to extract peat on Islay. However, the nature of that deal may change in the years ahead.
“Extraction rights were granted to Diageo to support the whisky industry and prevent damage to other peatlands,” says a NatureScot spokesperson. “However, as part of a review of our landholdings with the aim of delivering on net-zero targets we are urgently exploring with Diageo the opportunities to reduce emissions from the site.”
“We recognise the important role peatbog ecosystems play in terms of biodiversity and climate change and we are committed to working with partners to ensure we manage resources as sustainably as possible for the future,” says a spokesperson for Diageo.
Last year, the Scottish government promised £250 million to help restore the nation’s peatlands and stop them leaking carbon, which will add to the pressure on whisky manufacturers to change their practices.
“I want distilleries to use the peat from sites that are already degraded, like when a new road is cut through,” says Clifton Bain at the . “There’s been a myth around the industry that you have to take peat from certain places only, because they’ve got a unique flavour.”
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Removing peat from degraded sites, however, will mean abandoning tradition, and it is unclear whether whisky distilleries and drinkers would welcome such a move.
But Neil Godsman, a peat farmer in Aberdeenshire who supplies the whisky industry, is pragmatic. He isn’t too disheartened about the fact that the peatbog he and his family have farmed for decades is nearing the end of its commercial life. “Peat is peat,” he says. “It’s the same everywhere.”
