Are you curious about the origins of Whisky's natural flavour?

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Are you legally old enough
(and sufficiently curious)
to enjoy terroir-driven whisky?

The Influence of Terroir
December 15, 2017 | ELEMENT: spirit | article | 2 minute read

For much of the industry barley is barley, a generic commodity whose origin or variety is of little relevance. But we beg to differ: we believe terroir – the interaction between land, soil and microclimate – has a profound effect on barley, so much so that flavour nuances can be identified in our distilled spirit.

To try and visualise the effect of different terroirs on spirit flavours we have created an animation of the sensory perception graphs.

Independent analysis by Tatlock & Thompson of the spirit distilled from 33 of our farms shows the basic aroma profile detected. Each spoke refers to a different characteristic identified within a single farm’s spirit which combine to build up a flavour profile for each distillate. No two profiles are alike.

While not actual proof of terroir, there were variables not least in variety, it’s a good starting point to demonstrate – all things being equal – barley grown on different farms just might be providing us with a subtly different flavour.

For the definitive proof we will have to wait for the results of the full research project now underway to prove once and for all that terroir matters.

 

 

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