6. Bringing Peated Whisky Back: Peat's Turbulent History in Ireland

In releasing its first two peated Irish Single Malt Whiskies to the market, Waterford Distillery has not only made history for the distillery but for the world of Irish whisky, being the first distillery to make a whisky entirely from Irish barley dried over Irish peat in generations.  Often overshadowed by its Scottish neighbours when it comes to talk of smoky or peated whiskies, Ireland's historic use of peat tells its own remarkable story of cultural and economic development, of communities built and indistries created. In this episode of the Waterford Whisky Podcast, we examine that rich history and its relevance to the world of whisky. 

Om Podcasten

Influenced by the world's greatest winemakers, Waterford Distillery obsessively brings the same intellectual drive, methodology and rigour to single malt whisky. But what does that actually mean? It means applying strict production criteria to Irish barley and whisky production. It means sourcing barley from individual Irish farms - some organic, some biodynamic. It means malting, fermenting, distilling and maturing those farm crops in complete isolation - from field to barrel. The distillery showcases the barley flavours derived from individual Irish farms, terroir by terroir, in its Single Farm Origin series. But the ultimate goal is to one day use these individual terroirs to produce world’s most unique, complex and compelling whisky. In this podcast series, the award-winning whisky communicator Barry Chandler has unfettered access to the distillery and its people, to break down each step of the production process from growing the barley to bottling the whisky so that you, the whisky fan, can understand about where flavour is created and what the possibilities are when a distillery chooses to obsessively explore that prime raw ingredient of single malt whisky: barley.