From the Mash Tun: A Distillery Owner’s Journey to Peat in Scotch Whisky

When our Head Distiller, Greg, and co-founder, Struan (two avid lovers of peated whisky), first introduced the concept of North Point Distillery creating our own peated mash bill, I was initially hesitant. I have to admit that Peated versions of Scotch Whisky have never been to my liking and I quickly assumed the role of devil’s advocate against the premise; however, through many compelling points and frankly, some sampling, I found myself convinced that we could make it work.

I wanted to explain our process through my own education and experience in producing this special sub-sect of Scotch Whisky, and some of the choices we have made:

What even is peat?

Peat is partially decayed plant matter that accumulates in bogs and moorlands over centuries. When it burns, it gives off a thick, smoky, earthy aroma that carries both the vegetal and mineral traces of the land it came from — heather, moss, wood and sometimes seaweed. Those compounds become the raw material for peat smoke: the volatile phenols that cling to barley and later show up in the spirit.

Peat is not a single flavour; its character varies with location, depth, and what grew there. That variation is at the heart of why peated whiskies can be so different.

To my nose, Islay Peated Whisky presents with sea salt and iodine, whereas Highland Peated Whisky presents with more hickory and bonfire flavours with greater emphasis on fruity undertones.

How we chose to make a peated whisky:

Selecting barley

Serving as the foundation to build upon, finding the right malt was crucial as always. We initially wanted to honour our existing Mash bill of Dalclagie using Maris Otter malted barley. Still, after much deliberation, we chose a Heavily Peated Malt from our ever-helpful supplier, Crisp Malt. Now, traditionally, the malting process goes like this: the barley is soaked, germinated, and then dried in a kiln. The same is true for peated whisky; however, during the drying stage, peat is introduced. Hot peat smoke is drawn through the malted barley in the kiln where smoke compounds – primarily phenolic molecules like guaiacol, cresols and syringol – are adsorbed into the grain. The longer and denser the smoke exposure, the more phenols cling to the malt. Once this process is complete, phenol measurement takes place. 

Phenol measurement quantifies peatiness as “phenol parts per million” (ppm) measured in the malt (not the finished whisky). Typical ranges: unpeated malt < 2 ppm, lightly peated 3–8 ppm, moderate 10–25 ppm, heavy peating 30+ ppm (Islay malts can reach very high values). We chose to benchmark our peated malt at a level of circa 50 ppm. 

While ppm gives a ballpark, the sensory result depends on fermentation, distillation cuts, and maturation.

Mashing and Fermentation

Our mashing process with the peated mash bill is similar to the Dalclagie mash bill, methodically made… and exceedingly manual! The whole process takes around 6 hours and is led by our mashmen, Dylan and Nick, with Greg overseeing the progress and yields. 

From the mash, we enter the familiar territory of fermentation, but instead of our house yeast, Kveik, we have opted for another unconventional Brewer’s yeast, Sour Trapp, and we continue our tradition of a minimum seven-day fermentation. 

What “Sour Trapp” brewer’s yeast is:

The vast majority of yeasts used in the Scotch Whisky industry belong to the family Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. Sour Trapp, to the best of our knowledge, is the first time that a Scotch Whisky distillery has intentionally used a strain known as Lachancea thermotolerans.  This strain, when typically used in the creation of sour, Belgian-style beers, is known for producing both alcohol and lactic acid.  The resultant wash characteristic, when paired with our extended 7-day fermentation, has masses of citrus, peach, lemon, grapefruit and pineapple. Sour Trapp is referred to as a low attenuation yeast strain, so in order to complete fermentation and build complexity we co-pitch it alongside a more traditional S. Cerevisiae strain. 

Why we chose it:

To build a fruity backbone underneath the peat

Long fermentations allow yeast to produce secondary metabolites — complex esters, fruity alcohols, and floral compounds. After day three, the yeast stops producing alcohol and starts producing flavour.

This is key because peat alone can taste flat if there’s nothing under it.

Seven-day fermentation gives us:

• Apricot and pear esters

• Tropical notes

• Soft lactic creaminess which softens the edges of peat without diluting its identity.

• Crisp, lemon-led minerality (Chablis is a great reference point for what we’re aiming for).

To create “funk” that survives distillation

The combination of the brewer’s yeast and fermentation timeline produces congeners that resist being stripped out in the still. These add savoury, fermented depth, something close to the old-style Highland malts before modern sterile fermentation became the norm.

Because we don’t optimise for yield

Seven-day fermentation produces less alcohol per batch. But far more character.

For a small distillery that values identity over throughput, that trade-off is absolutely worth it.

The Distilling: the culmination of effort

As always, our distilling follows a model that I have coined as “grandmother’s cooking”. We distil low and slow, making sure to keep tight cut points and cut by flavour, not through time or ABV (using these metrics as general guidelines alone). Greg has spent years cultivating this ethos, and we don’t intend to deviate regardless of mashbill choice. 

Cut points: where peat becomes a voice instead of a shout

This is where our distillers, Greg and Avery (the newest addition to our team) earn their keep. We don’t chase maximum peat intensity…we chase balance.

Foreshots (heads): The early part of the run can carry sharp, solvent-y phenolics. If we cut too early (taking too much of the heads), the spirit character can present as harsh and chemical.

The hearts (middle cut): This is the zone where peat expresses itself with depth: warm hearth smoke, coastal iodine, and a rich savoury character. In our case, we are chasing fruit, balance, and minerality. Our cut is slightly earlier than some Islay distilleries. Why? Because we want those richer phenols, but not the heavy tar of the late run. We want the smoke to present itself as clean and crisp, rather than the excessive weight of other distillates. 

Feints (tails): Tails carry weighty phenolics and earthy compounds. We avoid pulling too far into the feints because we value clarity — too much tail, and peat starts to muddy the fruit.

The Cask

As always, the casks to be used were a contentious debate. We have been blessed over our brief history as a Scotch Whisky distillery to source some of the best casks from around the world, and so we faced a difficult choice in cask sourcing and allocation for the peated mashbill new-make. 

Refill Bourbon casks for clarity.

These casks let peat stay honest. You taste spirit, barley, and smoke without too much oak influence. This is where our whisky’s “true voice” lives. These are the casks of choice for the whisky's initial maturation. A refill cask allows the distillate to develop a representative character without a strong cask influence. 

Other casks that are on the cards for future maturation and finishing profiles include first-fill Bourbons and Sherry Casks.

Closing thoughts

After this journey, I am sold on Peated Whisky. Peat is more than an ingredient — it’s an attitude. It’s the smoke on the malt, the memory of hearth fires, the echo of coastline winds. For a distillery owner, peat offers both technical challenge and storytelling opportunity: a handful of smoke compounds can transform a simple barley spirit into something that tastes of place and time.

Peat provides the fire.

Yeast provides the fruit.

Time provides the depth.

Oak provides the shape.

And together, they create something that speaks of North Point Distillery and our philosophy.

If you are interested in buying your own cask of our Peated Scotch Whisky or would like to learn more about our Cask Ownership Programme, please contact me at alex@northpointdistillery.com