You can drive from one end of Islay to the other in under an hour. Yet the distilleries you pass along the way produce whiskies that seem to come from entirely different worlds: the heavy, medicinal smoke of Ardbeg has almost nothing in common with the softer, maritime profile of Bunnahabhain, just twenty kilometres up the road. When you’re there, you quickly understand that “peated Scotch whisky” is not a category — it’s a starting point.
Islay is the Scottish reference point for peated whisky, but peat is used across other Scottish regions too. There are distilleries in the Highlands, the Islands and Campbeltown that use peat in completely different ways, with equally interesting results. I wrote this guide to help you navigate regions and styles, understand what really sets one peated whisky apart from another, and figure out where to begin.
Why Scotland and peat go hand in hand
For centuries, peat was the only available fuel across much of Scotland. It was used for heating, cooking, and inevitably for drying malted barley during whisky production. It wasn’t a stylistic choice — it was simply what was there.
Over time, as coal and other fuels became accessible, many distilleries moved away from peat. Some kept using it, out of tradition or to distinguish themselves. And that choice is what drives all the variety we see today: distilleries that peat their barley heavily, others that use very little, and others still that alternate between peated and unpeated production on the same site.
The amount of peat used during kilning is measured in PPM (parts per million of phenols in the malt). A whisky at 5-10 ppm is barely peated; above 30 ppm it starts to make its presence felt; above 50 ppm you’re in the territory of serious peat. Bruichladdich’s Octomore regularly exceeds 100 ppm. If you want to understand what this number actually means in the glass, the article on PPM in peated whisky is a useful reference.
Scotland produces peated whisky across almost all of its regions, but with very different styles. Geography matters: the type of peat varies from area to area, and the influence of the sea changes the profile significantly.
Islay
Islay is an island of around 3,200 inhabitants and nine active distilleries. The distillery-to-resident ratio is probably unbeatable anywhere in the world. The whisky produced here is known for its maritime, smoky and often medicinal character — but calling it a single “Islay style” is a simplification that falls apart the moment you compare bottles side by side.
The south-east coast, where Ardbeg, Lagavulin and Laphroaig sit close together, represents the most intense and recognisable style. The rest of the island tells different stories.
Ardbeg
Ardbeg is probably the most closely followed distillery on Islay, with a dedicated community of fans that renews itself with every special release. Its style is intense smoke with notes of tar, citrus and vanilla — a balance that’s hard to replicate. The Ardbeg 10 Year Old is the bottle to start with; the Wee Beastie at 5 years is rougher but more immediate. The distillery has an active output of limited editions, many reserved for Committee members.
Ardnahoe
The most recent of Islay’s distilleries, opened in 2019. The production philosophy centres on long fermentations and swan-neck stills among the tallest on the island, which tend to produce a lighter, fruitier spirit than the neighbours to the south. The first single casks released at 5 and 6 years have won over many enthusiasts: the profile is delicate, with fruit and peat in balance, far from the more aggressive styles of the southern coast. A young distillery, but already with a recognisable voice.
Bowmore
Bowmore is Islay’s oldest distillery, founded in 1779, located in the centre of the island overlooking Loch Indaal. The profile is what many describe as “classic balanced Islay”: peat present but not dominant, floral notes, fruit and a maritime background. The Bowmore 12 Year Old is the most widely available bottle in the range, well suited to those approaching peated whisky without wanting to start at the extreme end.
Bruichladdich
Bruichladdich is a case apart. The distillery produces under three distinct ranges with different philosophies: the classic Bruichladdich, often unpeated or lightly peated, focused on fruit and cask complexity; Port Charlotte, sitting around 40 ppm with a more assertive maritime style; and Octomore, the super-peated line that routinely exceeds 100 ppm and represents one of the most radical experiments in Scotch whisky. Three different products, one distillery.
Bunnahabhain
Bunnahabhain surprises anyone expecting the typical intense Islay peat. Most of its production is unpeated, with a nutty, maritime and sweet profile that has more in common with certain Highland distilleries than with its neighbours to the south. There is also a peated line, the Mòine, using malt at around 35-40 ppm: the smoke is there, but it integrates with the dried fruit and saline character typical of the distillery in a softer way than the southern coast styles. The distillery sits in the north-eastern part of the island, and its shop is among the best stocked on Islay for special editions and single casks.
Caol Ila
Caol Ila is Islay’s highest-capacity distillery, with much of its production going into Diageo blends, most notably Johnnie Walker. As a single malt it spent a long time in the shadow of its more famous neighbours, but in recent years it has gained serious attention from enthusiasts. The profile is smoky with notes of dried fruit, pepper and oil — less medicinal than Laphroaig, less extreme than Ardbeg. The Caol Ila 12 Year Old is one of the best value-for-money bottles on all of Islay. If you’ve never tasted it alongside Lagavulin 16 and Ardbeg 10, the comparison of four Islay classics is worth doing.
Kilchoman
Kilchoman is Islay’s only true farm distillery: it produces, malts and bottles everything on the island, including a portion of barley grown on site. Opened in 2005, it’s the most recent of the established distilleries. The profile is fruity and smoky, with a youthfulness that in the best batches becomes a distinct advantage. Machir Bay is the most widely available expression; 100% Islay is the label using exclusively barley grown and malted at the distillery.
Lagavulin
Lagavulin is perhaps the most recognised name outside enthusiast circles, partly thanks to years of media exposure. Nick Offerman, the actor from Parks & Recreation, is a genuine fan and has introduced the brand to a much wider audience. The Lagavulin 16 Year Old is the benchmark: deep smoke, sherry notes, sea and tobacco, with a structure that holds up beautifully over a long maturation. It’s a whisky for anyone who wants to understand what a peated malt can become with time and the right casks. The Distillers Edition with Pedro Ximenez finish adds sweetness and complexity. For a closer look, the Lagavulin 16 review goes into more detail.
Laphroaig
Laphroaig divides opinion. The medicinal, iodine-heavy and almost antiseptic notes that define its style are exactly what fans seek out — and exactly what keeps others at a distance. The Laphroaig 10 Year Old is the bottle to start with, also available as the Original Cask Strength at over 55% vol. The Càirdeas, released each year at Feis Ile, is the most anticipated limited edition among enthusiasts. Laphroaig also runs the Friends of Laphroaig programme, which assigns members a small symbolic plot of land on the island. The Laphroaig 10 review covers the core expression in full.
Port Ellen
Port Ellen is a story of its own. The original distillery closed in 1983 and remained silent for decades, becoming one of the most sought-after and expensive labels on the secondary market. In 2023 it was reopened by Diageo following an extensive restoration: the first whiskies of the new era still require years of maturation, but expectations are high. For now, anyone wanting to drink a Port Ellen must still look to historic releases, at prices that reflect the full weight of the myth.
The Islands (excluding Islay)
Scotland’s other islands produce peated whiskies with a different character from Islay: maritime influence is often present, but the peat tends to be less phenolic and “sweeter” in the final profile.
Talisker, on the Isle of Skye, is the reference point. Its whisky has a warmer, peppery smoke with notes of sea and a spiciness that makes it recognisable in blind tasting. The Talisker 10 Year Old is one of the most versatile bottles among peated whiskies, accessible even for those coming from more delicate styles.
Highland Park, in Orkney, uses a local peat with unique characteristics: the heather growing in these moorlands gives the malt floral and sweet notes you won’t find elsewhere. Highland Park whiskies are peated but never aggressive, with a complexity that rewards older expressions.
Jura, the island neighbouring Islay, produces mainly unpeated whisky. The Prophecy line is the exception: a peated expression at around 40 ppm, smoky with a red wine cask maturation that makes it rounder and less maritime than the Islay classics. Not the easiest bottle to find outside the UK, but worth knowing to understand just how different a peated whisky produced a few miles from Islay can taste.
The Highlands
In the Highlands, peat is not the norm — but the exceptions are worth knowing, and there are more of them than you might expect.
Ardmore, in Aberdeenshire, is probably the Highland distillery most committed to peat: most of its production uses peated malt, though much of it ends up in blends. As a single malt, the profile is earthy, with notes of honey, baked apple and a dry smoke that bears no resemblance to Islay whatsoever. The Ardmore Legacy is the most accessible expression in the range.
Clynelish, in Sutherland, is technically unpeated, but has such a pronounced waxy, cereous character that it behaves similarly to certain peated malts in blind tastings. Worth knowing to understand that aromatic complexity doesn’t always depend on peat.
GlenDronach has released various peated editions over the years, outside its standard profile of heavily sherried, unpeated single malt. They’re not easy to find, but they signal that curiosity about peat in Speyside and its surroundings is not a recent trend.
Old Pulteney, in Wick, is another Highland distillery with a strongly maritime character, driven by its coastal location. It’s not a peated whisky in the traditional sense, but the light smokiness present in some expressions and the brine make it interesting for anyone exploring styles beyond Islay.
Highland peat has a different composition from Islay’s: fewer marine algae in the ecosystem, more heather and continental vegetation. The result is a drier, earthier smoke that in many cases integrates better with the honey and fruit notes typical of Highland maturation. For a deeper look at how cask and maturation choices interact with peat across Islay distilleries, the article on Islay casks and maturation styles goes into detail.
Campbeltown and Speyside
Campbeltown, on the Kintyre peninsula, was once the whisky capital of Scotland with dozens of active distilleries. Today three remain. Springbank is the one that matters most to peated whisky enthusiasts: it produces three expressions with different peat levels. The classic Springbank is lightly peated; Hazelburn is unpeated; Longrow is the heavily peated expression in the range, with a profile that recalls certain Islay whiskies but has its own precise identity — earthier and spicier. Springbank is also one of the very few Scottish distilleries that still malts a significant portion of its barley in-house.
Speyside is traditionally the home of fruity, floral and unpeated single malts. There are exceptions, though: BenRiach has produced a peated line for years that has attracted attention for the quality of its maturation, often in unconventional casks. It’s not the first place to look for a peated whisky, but worth knowing if you want an alternative far from the Islay template.
How peat changes from region to region
The PPM figure tells only part of the story. Two whiskies with the same phenolic content can taste completely different depending on where the peat was cut, how it was used and how the spirit has matured.
Islay has the most “maritime” peat: the moorlands sit close to the sea, rich in decomposed seaweed, and this translates into iodine, medicinal and saline notes you won’t find in continental areas. Add to this the influence of sea air during maturation, which penetrates the casks in warehouses facing the ocean.
The Islands (Skye, Orkney) have a sweeter, more floral peat, with less iodine and more heather. The smoke that results is rounder and less aggressive.
The Highlands use a continental peat, drier and more earthy. The smoke tends to stay in the background behind honey, dried fruit and spice, and often integrates better with long maturations in sherry casks.
Campbeltown has a style of its own: brine is present, but the smoke has a different quality from Islay — waxier and less medicinal.
Understanding these differences helps you choose with more precision and makes it less surprising when a new peated whisky bears no resemblance to what you usually drink.
Where to start: one bottle per style
If you’re early in your peated whisky journey and want to map out what you like, these five bottles cover the main styles without requiring a large budget.
For the classic maritime peated style, start with the Caol Ila 12 Year Old: clean smoke, dried fruit, no aggression. It’s the most honest way to understand what Islay offers without starting at the extreme end. Widely available under €50.
For the medicinal and intense style, the reference is Laphroaig 10 Year Old: iodine, smoke, almost pharmaceutical notes. Either it grabs you immediately, or you realise you prefer something more restrained. There’s no middle ground.
For the structured and aged peated style, the Lagavulin 16 Year Old is hard to beat: the smoke is present, but the sherry complexity and years of maturation make it something categorically different. Around €80 — a price that makes sense here.
For the Island peated style, Talisker 10 Year Old is the right bottle: pepper, warm smoke, sea without iodine. It also works well as an introduction for anyone coming from unpeated whiskies.
For the non-Islay, non-Island peated style, Springbank Longrow is the most interesting choice: Campbeltown, earthy, spiced, with a personality that resembles nothing else. Not the easiest bottle to track down, but worth the effort.
If you’re still building your bearings in the peated whisky world, the best peated whiskies under €50 and the beginner’s guide to peated whisky are two solid references for broadening your search.
The Scottish peated whisky regions are not interchangeable, and the difference is not simply a matter of intensity. It’s the type of peat, the territory, the production tradition and the maturation choices that build the final style. Islay is the inevitable reference point, but stopping there means missing a significant part of the picture. If you want a practical comparison between four of the Islay classics, the article on Ardbeg 10 vs Laphroaig 10 vs Lagavulin 16 vs Caol Ila 12 is a useful next step.
