The Unexpected Story Behind Peated Whisky

At Wolfburn, peat isn’t just an ingredient — it’s a connection to our past. For three months each year we use peated malt to make our whisky as a nod to the past. The result is a trio of expressions that each carry a different whisper of smoke: Northland and our 12 Year Old, both very lightly peated at around 5ppm, and Morven, gently lifted to 10ppm. Think of them as three steps into the world of peat — subtle, refined, and wonderfully approachable. Confused about ppm and what it all means? Phenol parts per million is a measurement of the smoky, peaty flavour compounds in the malted barley before it's distilled from lightly peated (under 20 PPM) to heavily peated (30-100+ PPM). 

Historically, whether a distillery used peated or unpeated malt came down to something surprisingly simple: fuel. Before efficient transport existed, distillers relied on whatever they could source locally to kiln their malt. If a railway ran past your door, affordable coal was the obvious choice. But if you were remote, island-based, or far from industrial routes, peat from nearby bogs became your lifeline — and with it came that evocative smoky character we now associate with whisky.

The original Wolfburn distillery stood proudly long before the railway reached Caithness in 1874. Back then, coal wasn’t an option — peat was. So when we revived the distillery in 2012, we felt it only right to honour that heritage by producing peated whisky for part of each year, just as our predecessors would have done.

By the early 20th century, change had arrived. In 1918, trains delivered an extraordinary 44,100 tonnes of coal every week to Caithness as the Jellicoe Express fed the naval fleet stationed at Scapa Flow. But by then, Wolfburn had already fallen silent. It would take nearly a century before the stills ran again.

Today, only around 20 of Scotland’s 120-plus distilleries produce peated whisky. For some, peat is an acquired taste; for others, it’s not for them at all. But for many, those gentle smoky notes are nothing short of magic.

Our whiskies don’t deliver a peat-heavy punch — instead, they offer a soft, smoky complexity that enhances rather than overwhelms. If you’ve ever been curious about peated whisky, or thought it might not be for you, Wolfburn might just surprise you. Sometimes the lightest touch leaves the strongest impression.