Peated or Unpeated? Finding Your Style

Smoke rises through a mesh floor beneath malted barley, giving it the distinctive aroma traditionally called “peat reek”. The Scotch Whisky Technical File describes this scene at the kiln, where burning peat gives peated malt its characteristic smoke.[1] The choice for your glass is simpler: how much attention do you want smoke to take? Neither peated nor unpeated whisky is a test of experience, and research shows that people genuinely perceive smoky compounds differently.[5]

In short

• Bunnahabhain is known for unpeated Islay single malt, according to the producer.[2]
• A phenol figure for malted barley is not a measurement of the finished whisky.[4]
• Peaty water may influence spirit character, but kiln smoke comes from burning peat during malt drying.[1][7]

What peated and unpeated mean

Peated malt is dried with peat smoke before the barley is ground and mashed. Unpeated malt is dried without it. The distiller chooses the degree of peatiness, described in the Scotch Whisky Technical File as “ranging from none to heavily peated”.[1] These are useful starting descriptions, not complete tasting notes.

The kiln need not belong to the distillery. Commercial maltsters also supply peated malt to whisky makers, as the Technical File records.[1] The distinction is whether peat smoke was used in preparing the malt, not whether the whisky maker owned the kiln or dried the barley.

From there, separate recognition from enjoyment. “I can recognise the smoke, but I do not enjoy it” is a useful observation. So is “I like the smoky aroma, but I would rather it played a smaller part.” Both tell you something about your preferences. Neither needs correcting into enthusiasm.

For a beginner, “Which style is better?” is less useful than asking how prominent you want smoke to be. You can recognise a character clearly without wanting more of it. Keep that distinction in mind when comparing the two styles, rather than treating recognition as a step towards approval.

Peated or unpeated: choose by flavour, not geography

Islay is closely associated with smoky whisky, but not every whisky from the island is peated. Bunnahabhain describes itself as known for unpeated Islay single malt.[2] Beyond the island, the trade reference ScotchWhisky.com describes Ardmore in the Highlands as a peated malt, while Springbank in Campbeltown makes both peated and unpeated styles.[3][4]

Use geography as a clue, then read the description of the particular whisky. These examples offer several contrasts to explore:

Treat these as contrasts, rather than a ranking or a controlled experiment. Hazelburn, Springbank and Longrow differ in distillation as well as peat, so comparing them reveals different overall approaches rather than isolating smoke alone.[3] Notice which combination interests you.

For a first example, a clear description is more useful than mastering every detail of production. Choosing your first whisky covers that broader decision. Here, keep the task focused: decide whether smoke sounds welcome, unwelcome or simply unfamiliar, then choose something that lets you investigate that response.

Why a peat number cannot choose for you

A peat figure needs a label: what, exactly, was measured? You may encounter levels expressed in parts per million, abbreviated to ppm, but a phenol measurement in malted barley is not the same measurement as phenols in spirit. Ardmore makes the distinction clear.[4]

ScotchWhisky.com gives Ardmore’s malt specification as 12 to 14 ppm and its new make spirit, the spirit before maturation, as 3.5 to 6 ppm.[4] These figures describe different stages of production, not interchangeable descriptions of the finished whisky.

Ask what was measured before comparing numbers. If one figure measures malted barley and another measures spirit, do not use them to rank the whiskies. Put that comparison aside rather than arranging the bottles into an apparently precise order. Ardmore’s figures show why the distinction matters without requiring you to learn the chemistry first.[4]

Nor should a malt specification become a smoke score for your glass. A larger number is not a recommendation, and it does not tell you whether you will enjoy the result. For finding your style, your response to the whisky is the information you actually need.

Why smoke can divide opinion

Disliking a smoky aroma does not mean you have failed to understand it. Two people can smell the same smoky compound and experience it differently, with neither person’s response a measure of experience.

Mainland and colleagues studied variation in human odour receptors and found that differences in the receptor gene OR10G4 explained over 15% of the observed variation in perceived intensity of guaiacol, and over 10% of the variation in its perceived pleasantness.[5] Those findings concern an individual compound, rather than predicting anyone’s favourite whisky. They show that some differences in how strong and pleasant an aroma seems have a biological basis.[5]

That connection between receptors and perception also appears in a larger study by Trimmer and colleagues. The researchers sequenced odour receptor genes in 332 people and tested perceptions of 68 odorants. They found associations between receptor variation and differences in perception, including an association between reduced receptor function and reduced perceived intensity.[6]

The useful lesson is to take pressure off the comparison, not to give yourself a permanent label. Record what appeals now without deciding that you are a “peat person” or an “unpeated person”. Leave room to explore another example if you want to.

Enjoying heavily smoky whisky need not be a finishing line. Building your whisky palate is a more useful aim than trying to acquire somebody else’s preferences.

Does the smoke come from peaty water?

The characteristic smoke comes from burning peat during malt drying. Water has a different role: the Scotch Whisky Technical File says that water, including peaty water, plays an important part in the character of the distillate.[1] These are distinct contributions to whisky’s character, rather than interchangeable explanations for smoke.

Craig Wilson’s doctoral research at Heriot-Watt University explored how water composition could affect spirit character. In laboratory trials, peat-derived compounds in mashing water changed yeast production of flavour compounds and produced spirit described as heavier and more complex. Water supplemented only with mineral ions produced minimal sensory differences in those trials.[7]

For choosing between peated and unpeated whisky, the practical distinction remains whether peat smoke was used to dry the malt.[1]

Make the comparison useful

Try a small comparison, not a tasting examination:

1. Choose one Scotch whisky described as unpeated and another described as peated.
2. Pour 10 ml of each into a separate plain tulip glass. A suggested serving temperature is 20 °C (68 °F).
3. Compare their aromas, then add a few drops of water if you wish and compare again.
4. Note whether smoke appeals, dominates your attention or sits alongside other aromas.

Use small, measured servings, with water, food and breaks available. Spitting is normal at tastings, and nobody needs to finish a glass; these practices do not remove alcohol’s risks. For a complete tasting routine, including how to approach the glass, follow the separate tasting guide linked below.

Keep your notes short enough to be useful later. Three questions are enough: “What did I notice?”, “Did I enjoy it?” and “Would I choose something similar?” These are suggested prompts, not a scoring system. You do not need an elaborate vocabulary to answer them; plain words will do.

Let the result guide your next choice. If smoke was unwelcome, explore another unpeated whisky rather than treating the comparison as unfinished work. If it interested you but took over, look for a description that puts less emphasis on peat. If it was the attraction, investigate another peated example without assuming its character will be identical.

Choose what you want to explore, not what you think you ought to enjoy.

Where to go next

• Your First Whisky Tasting: Five Easy Steps: use a structured method for your comparison.
• What "Smooth" Really Means in Whisky: describe your response more precisely.
• Why Does Whisky Taste Different from One Distillery to Another?: put peat alongside the other choices that shape whisky.

Sources

1. UK Government. Technical File for Scotch Whisky, June 2019. Sections on peat aroma, historical peat use and water. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5fd36667e90e07662ed92c85/Scotch_Whisky_Technical_File_-_June_2019.pdf
2. Bunnahabhain. Bunnahabhain Islay Single Malt Whisky, producer home page, undated, checked November 2026. https://bunnahabhain.com/
3. ScotchWhisky.com. Whiskypedia: Springbank, trade reference, undated, checked November 2026. https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/1892/springbank/
4. ScotchWhisky.com. Whiskypedia: Ardmore, trade reference, undated, checked November 2026. https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/1809/ardmore/
5. Mainland, J. D. et al. The missense of smell: functional variability in the human odorant receptor repertoire. Nature Neuroscience, 17(1), 114 to 120, 2014. doi:10.1038/nn.3598. Europe PMC record supplied in the fact sheet: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/search?query=TITLE:%22missense%20of%20smell%22&resultType=core&format=json
6. Trimmer, C. et al. Genetic variation across the human olfactory receptor repertoire alters odor perception. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(19), 9475 to 9480, 2019. doi:10.1073/pnas.1804106115. Europe PMC record supplied in the fact sheet: https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/search?query=Mainland%20OR10G4%20guaiacol&resultType=core&format=json&pageSize=3
7. Wilson, C. A. The role of water composition on malt spirit quality. Doctoral thesis, Heriot-Watt University, 2008. https://www.ros.hw.ac.uk/items/b9d33606-ba7e-401f-adf6-988b15968a13/full

This desk-researched article uses the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing the Technical File, producer descriptions, trade accounts and research findings; it includes no first-hand tasting.

Last checked: November 2026