TLDR

Does Whisky Have Terroir (A Sense of Place?)

Yes whisky can be said to have a sense of place (Terroir) though this is not true for all whiskies. Some distilleries do focus on locally sourced materials, to create and mature whisky specific to a locality though you'll seldom find these in the supermarket.

The Long Read

The phrase “Like the country, like the whisky” is a popular refrain. and it can be tempting to assume that you can taste the rugged nature of the Highlands or the maritime climate of Islay in a single malt. However it’s more complicated than this because of how whisky is mass produced, leading some to challenge the very idea that whisky can really have its own terroir. We investigated this question and checked the five elements of Scottish single malts for their terroir influence. The end result may surprised you.

What is terroir anyway?

The term terroir comes from viticulture and describes the influence of climate, soil and landscape on the character of the wine. The nature of the soil, how much sun shines on the slope, how much precipitation falls, etc. All these factors, in combination with the grape varieties used, shape the character and taste of the wine. It is no coincidence that terroir, translated from French, means “earth”: the term always refers to a specific wine-growing region that differs from others by its specific terroir.

Does whisky also have terroir?

Whether Scottish whiskies are also shaped by an individual terroir has long been the subject of lively discussions. Proponents claim that the raw materials used in whisky can also have their own regional character. We want to take a closer look at these in the following. One important difference between wine and whisky should be mentioned in advance: While the wine is bottled after fermentation, with Scotch whisky it is distilled at least twice and then stored in oak barrels for at least three years (often much longer). Of course, this has a significant impact on potential terroir characteristics.

Experts assume that up to 80% of the flavor of a whisky comes from aging in casks. If you deduct further portions for the distillation in the copper pot stills, which also influence the taste with their shape and the distillation process, then little is left for the terroir.

Water & terroir

Whoever wants to distill whisky needs a lot of water - for preparing the mash as well as for cooling the stills and diluting the finished single malt to the desired drinking strength. Most Scottish distilleries get their water from their own spring, which is often in close proximity to the distillery. Depending on the nature of the soil, the water also differs in its composition. According to a study by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, the mineral content of the water only has a minor influence on the whisky. Most of these components are therefore filtered out after the mash.

However, if the water contains peat components, this can certainly influence the character of the new make. For example, peat components in a studied still from the Highlands made for a heavier, more complex taste of the New Makes. The same distillate distilled from Islay water, on the other hand, had a lighter character. Almost all distilleries filter their water before use: This filters out calcium carbonate (better known as lime) and reduces the pH level of the water. The particularly soft water produced in this way is ideally suited for the production of whisky. The demanding yeasts find the best conditions to interact with the sugars in the mash.

To dilute the whisky during bottling, demineralised water is often used, which no longer contains any minerals that could affect the taste.

Terroir influence: Low.

The treatment of the water should ensure that a regional character in the final whisky is unlikely to be detectable.

Barley & terroir

Even if the barley fields behind some Scottish distilleries gleam an enticing golden color in the sun, most of the barley used is not locally grown. And not in Scotland either. The three largest growing countries for barley are Russia, France and Germany and from these countries the grain is also exported to Scotland to be made into whisky. The cultivated barley varieties such as Laureate or Concerto are primarily optimized for yield and not so much for taste. They should contain a lot of starch and enzymes and be easy to process. This combination ensures that a regional terroir is practically undetectable via the barley in most whiskies.

Some distilleries such as Bruichladdich, Kilchoman or Waterford in Ireland partially source their barley from local farms. With “Bere Barley” older varieties are sometimes grown, which are supposed to bring a more original taste to the whisky. Whether a noticeable difference in taste really comes from the terroir or simply from another variety (which could theoretically be grown somewhere else) is debatable.

Terroir influence: Low.

Very low. Large amounts of barley is imported and not grown locally, even those distilleries who do grow their own may not receive this back from the maltsers they use.

Yeast & terroir

Most Scottish distilleries use specialist dry or liquid yeasts that are optimized for whisky distilling. It should produce a lot of alcohol, be able to cope with a high sugar content, be temperature-stable and not clump together. Many distilleries used to source their yeast from the local brewery, but those days are long gone and the yeast business has been centralized for many years.

Even if the yeast has a non-negligible influence on the taste and can emphasize fruit aromas, for example, one can hardly speak of terroir here. Because hardly any Scottish distillery still breeds its own yeast strains. Instead, the finished products of large manufacturers are used. Interestingly, things are different in the USA: there, many bourbon distilleries rely on their own proprietary yeast strains. Some distilleries like Four Roses in Kentucky even have a variety of different strains that are used in parallel to distil different styles of whisky.

Terroir influence: Low.

Hardly any Scottish distillery has its own yeast strains, while some have conducted experiments in this area almost all use distillers yeasts, in the rare exceptions like Ben Nevis (which uses a combination of distillers and brewers yeast) even these cannot be said to be exclusive, or local.

Peat & terroir

Some distilleries, notably on the Isle of Islay, use peated barley to distill their whiskies. The peat is cut in peat bogs on the island. And this is where something like a terroir comes into play for the first time: Because where exactly the moor is located, how the soil is composed, what plant components it contains - all of this also influences the peat and later the taste of the whisky.

Provided, of course, that only peat from this one moor is used for the whisky in a distillery. Many Islay distilleries source their barley from a central malting facility, often on the Scottish mainland. And whether the peat from Islay is also used there or simply that from another bog is often not clear.

Terroir influence: Present.

If only peat from a specific bog near the distillery is used, there may be a terroir influence.

Maturation & terroir

Distillery tours on Islay like to tell that storage directly on the coast in the midst of spray and salty sea air also influences the whisky. In fact, many malts do not mature on site, but in central warehouses. These are conveniently located near Glasgow or in the Fife region. And these whiskies from the central warehouses also taste of the sea and the island, they have the same character as the whiskies in the show warehouse, which is wildly romantic right on the cliffs.

Of course, there are differences in the climate in the warehouse: where exactly is it? Is it stone or tin? How many layers are there? In which position do which casks mature? In order to assert a terroir influence here, all the casks of a single malt would have to mature directly at the distillery - and even then the question would be whether the cask itself, in terms of size and pre-filling, does not have a much greater influence than a terroir. The casks in general: They mostly come either from American bourbon distilleries or from Spanish sherry bodegas. True, many are reassembled in Scottish co-operatives. But whether the sweat of the barrel makers goes through as a regional terroir is rather questionable…

Terroir influence: Low

An influence would only be conceivable if the whiskies were only stored locally. However, the barrels used are much more important for the taste.

Conclusion: The importance of the terroir for the whisky

If you take a closer look at the elements of whisky from water to barley, yeast and storage, it quickly becomes clear that the influence of the terroir is rather small. Only through the peat can a note get into the whisky that has the quality of soil and composition to be considered a terroir factor. For the followers of the terroir idea, the term is often synonymous with more regionality and transparency in whisky production. And that in itself is a good thing. As consumers, we want to know more about our products today than ever before.

Most of the Scottish distilleries still have a lot of catching up to do: there are still many bottlings in which important storage factors are deliberately or unconsciously left in the dark. Other measures such as cold filtration or the addition of coloring to the natural product whisky are questionable. We don’t need to know what kind of barley was grown, when it was harvested, and what the license number of the combine was. But we want to feel like we’re not being taken for a fool. Honest insights into the production and more transparency with whisky can’t be wrong!

https://www.masterofmalt.com/blog/post/terroir-in-whisky-exists-say-scientists.aspx

https://www.maltwhisky.de/terroir-whisky/