Not All Islay Whisky Is Smoky

Why do whisky makers on Islay use peat?

Wetland peat, made from compacted plant matter, is the traditional fuel across vast swathes of Scotland where coal and firewood were in short supply. If you’ve ever tasted a Scotch whisky and found pronounced notes of smoke in your glass, you can bet that it was distilled from grain dried over burning peat. 

The people of the island of Islay were using peat to dry their malted barley long before they saw their first pot stills. But when they did start distilling fermented cereals, in about the 1500s, that peat smoke that clung to their barley and carried through into the resulting spirit. 

Smoke, stereotypes and single malt

Over the years, Islay’s reputation as a source of peaty whisky has led many to assume that this is all the island has to offer. Today, it’s often stereotyped as producing Scotland’s most extreme single malts; roaring peat fires in a glass, billowing smoke and definitely not for beginners. 

But this isn’t true, of course, it’s just another whisky myth that needs unpicking.

Unpeated Islay whiskies you need to try

There are several distilleries on the island that produce totally unpeated whiskies at least some of the time. So, if smoky flavours just aren’t your thing, there’s no need to write off Islay in its entirety. Which is great, because the so-called Queen of the Hebrides is one of the most important centres of whisky making in the world and well-worth getting to know. 

Bunnahabhain Est.1881

The flagship Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old has a coastal brininess on the nose, feeding into a palate of honeyed granola, roasted chestnuts, caramelised oranges and rich hints of sherry. That’s pronounced “boo-na-ha-venn” in case you’re not familiar – Islay is a great place to find old Scottish names that have survived through the centuries. 

This Victorian distillery on Islay’s northwest coast originally used peated malt, but in the mid-20th century it began producing smoke-free spirit. Bunnahabhain started to work with peat regularly again the 2000s, when smoky whisky surged in popularity, but continues to switch between the two styles. 

Bruichladdich Est.1881

From there, it’s worth heading to Bruichladdich (brook-laddie) which was founded the same year as Bunnahabhain but took the modish decision to use smokeless fuels to dry its barley from the very beginning. By the 20th century it was well-known as the whisky the locals drank; which is ironic given Islay’s association with peat, but does suggest that they were doing something right even then. 

While Bruichladdich in its modern incarnation also produces peated whisky, the now-iconic Classic Laddie offers another way to experience Islay whisky without the smoke. In the glass, The Classic Laddie gives you heather honey, warm flapjacks, cantaloupe melon, green apple and salty notes of sea breeze. 

Bottled at a respectable 50% ABV and boasting a pleasantly oily texture, it stands up well to a drop of water, getting softer and creamier with dilution. It’s drams like this that remind you Islay’s reputation wasn’t just built on peat smoke; it was also high quality and a profound sense of place. 

Caol Ila Est.1846 

The largest distillery on Islay by some margin, Caol Ila dutifully turns out elegantly peated whisky to be bottled as single malt or provide smoke and minerality to blends like Johnnie Walker Black Label. But we also occasionally see limited-edition bottlings of Caol Ila made with unpeated grain. 

Unpeated Caol Ilas can be hard to come by. Though they’re relatively obscure, there are plenty of fans of these bottlings willing to bid competitively for them at whisky auctions. For a nice example of the style, check out the Caol Ila 11 Year Old Unpeated Special Releases 2024. 

This is a slightly chunkier dram than your average Caol Ila, with nutty and pastry notes replacing the usual smoke and citrus. But you’ll still get that seashore minerality that’s always a pleasure to find in Islay whiskies. A fascinating way to look at one of Scotland’s great distilleries from a totally different angle. 

Do the whisky regions really dictate flavour?

The connection between place of origin and flavour isn’t as easy to establish in whisky as it can be in wine, for instance. There are plenty of distillers – including the team at Bruichladdich, which we mentioned earlier – that are exploring the links between landscape, climate, grain and taste. But whether you use peat or a smokeless heat source to dry your malted barley prior to distillation is a decision rather than something enforceable based on geography. 

The five whisky regions – that’s Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside, Campbeltown and Islay – are recognised in the laws that govern Scotch whisky. But nowhere do they say that Islay distilleries have to use peat or that Lowland distilleries can’t. 

So, do the whisky regions mean anything?

Yes and no. 

Regionality in whisky comes from a complex mix of historical, political and economic factors, rather than any immutable facts of terrain and location. If peat was your traditional fuel, you probably started out making peaty whisky. Then, when blenders came to your island looking for some of that good smoky single malt they’d heard about, you probably wanted to be able to give it to them. 

But as the more than 150 distilleries in Scotland continue to evolve, innovate and push the boundaries of flavour, the lines that divide the five whisky regions drawn up in the early 20th century are becoming ever hazier.

All roads lead to Islay

All of that said, Islay remains a special place. Not defined by the use of peat, necessarily, but by a rich heritage of distilling and an abundance of character. Exploring its growing number of distilleries has captured the imagination of whisky fans for generations, whether they lean into the robustly peated styles or not. 

If you start your trip around the island with one of the unpeated whiskies we’ve looked at here, you might find that a lightly peated Bowmore or a crisply smoky Caol Ila starts to call to you. 

And if not, you’ll find plenty to enjoy on Islay regardless.