Everything I say here is intended for the world of European whisky (Scotch and Irish included), but the same principles could be applied to whiskies made anywhere in the world with some adaptation of the details to local conditions, e.g., which types of grain can be grown locally
Last year, my piece about whisky terroir was published in Whisky Magazine (Issue 207), but it was only 1900 words long. That's not long enough to properly outline what I really think about whisky terroir, so I have taken time to build up this piece, adding more detail and ideas. It lays out an 8 point model of whisky terroir, and takes time to explain exactly what that would mean.
Getting Close: Single Farm/Estate Distilleries
The whiskies currently closest to producing a distinct terroir are, by their nature, single farm/single estate distilleries. However, these are still pretty rare. Thy and Hinrichsens facing the North Sea; Domaine des Hautes Glaces, Rozelieures, and Hautefeuille in France; Bus, Kalkwijck and De Bronckhorst in the Netherlands; Farthofer in Austria; new generation Scottish distillers Arbikie, Aberargie, and Ballindalloch; not to mention the now-dormant Waterford. I may be missing a few smaller examples across Europe, to say nothing of the rest of the world, but you get the point: they are relatively rare.
However, as noted above, terroir exists at a bigger resolution than the individual farm. After all, wine terroir doesn't change across every individual vineyard. I mean, the finer points do, but the overall wine region doesn't! If we expand this view to distilleries using only local sources of grain, then far more names pop up: Sempione, Santisblick, Stauning, Nordisk, Eimverk, Tevsjo, Henstone, In the Welsh Wind, Fielden, Kyro, Teerenpeli, Helsinki, Moe, TOSH, GoldCock, Villa de Varda, Winestillery, Basque Moonshiners, Armagnac Samalens (Whisky Tchankat), Castan, Menhirs, Kilchoman, Bruichladdich, Daftmill, Springbank, Lochlea...
However, there is still no agreement about how to develop these ideas further and produce proper terroir. Moreover, we can't expect every distillery to have their own farm and use only that: it's not a realistic or historic way of making whisky! Ærø Distillery in Denmark tried making their own ‘Nordic Whisky Manifesto’ with eight points, but their ideas are sometimes focused outside the source of flavour (minimising CO2 emissions), or just oddly opinionated (all ‘young’ whisky (3-5 years) aged only in first fill of 128L or less).
Instead of all these mixed terms we have now, I propose a solution to combine everything into a cohesive concept of whisky terroir, avoiding the imprecise discussions of the term which plague French wine spaces and making something concrete.
Closer: Wine Terroir Regions
Look at a map of French wine terroirs. They only cover a small percentage of the entire country! While wine is grown all over France, and each of these terroir areas has its own fractal subdivisions, they don't just slice the whole country up S.W.A.-style. If an area has enough distinctive soil, climate, history, and culture of producing a certain wine, then it can be recognised. That terroir is officially demarcated, and anything not following the right rules is out. You can still grow wine wherever you like and (within wider laws) however you like, both within and without these regions - but only the right conditions being met produces that distinctive terroir.
I think this is exactly what we can do with whisky. We don't just say it's 'all in the grain', nor do we say terroir is impossible. We look at which areas do have the right conditions, combining the same mix of factors Dave Broom and Becky Paskin refer to with 'bioregionalism' and 'social terroir', and we make something simple to understand.
Out of interest, I pulled a few more wine terroir maps. You can see how most of Europe still confines terroirs to small areas within each country (I know Europe is far from the only source of wine in the world, but I'm working with European whisky here, so it's my main point of comparison). You can have larger, overarching national categories like French wine, Spanish wine, etc., but these terroirs can provide much more local specificity and craft.
Getting away from the need to carve a whole country into regions (as the Scotch whisky map does) means we can only highlight terroirs which are consciously developed, rather than corralling dissimilar distilleries together purely for the sake of region-making.
I did once make a prototype terroir map for the Netherlands (right), but that was before I realised you don't need to cover a whole country in regions like Scotland does!
Staying with the Netherlands, the country is an interesting example. It's small, and does make a small amount of wine (mostly in the south east). However, the map below shows how soils vary widely across the country. Anecdotally, I can tell you the climate feels plenty different between the North and South; between the wind-lashed rainy streets of Groningen and the practically balmy fields of Brabant.
The other map below shows how crop growing also varies across the country. Brabant's sandy soil has long been used for rye, which is also popular on the northern coast. You can see that maize mostly grows in the south as well...
So even small countries in Europe have a wider variety of soil types, we have some farm distilleries, and distilleries like Waterford conducting research which proves that local growing conditions DO make a difference. How do we stop all the bickering and actually come up with a consensus?
The Solution - Terroirs in place of Regions
I think the answer has been staring us right in the face all along. Scotch whisky emulated wine terroirs when it designated five official regions for the spirit in the 1980s. Everyone knows that these regions are broad generalisations full of exceptions: look at Benromach in Speyside or Bunnahabhain in Islay, for two obvious examples. This comes back to the fact that these whiskies' flavours ultimately stem from human choice, not any kind of natural determinism. After all, the story of the Scotch whisky industry (particularly since the 1960s) is one of standardisation, creating an ecosystem of interdependent distilleries all pulling in the same direction.
It had great results for the category, but meant that everyone uses vast quantities of anonymous malt, M1 yeast, and distills primarily for efficiency. Again, that doesn't mean the whisky therefore tastes bad! Rather, it means the whisky cannot produce the effects of a local terroir. The existence of smoky Speysides and light Islay malts tells you that Scotch whisky's flavours are not (necessarily) fixed in place.
However, what if 'terroir' and 'region' became synonymous? If we reworked whisky regions to actually encompass the details which give a whisky proper terroir, then the concept would be easy to understand, resembling wine terroir in a recognisable way while also retaining its distinct whisky qualities. This will require significant additions to whisky legislation, and it remains to be seen which body(s) would oversee such rules: individual national organisations like the SWA, or supranational bodies like the EU? Existing legal frameworks for whisky already need updating in many areas - look at Irish distillers moving to update the single pot still category.
Looking at Scotland's whisky regions (with maps sourced from different parts of the internet), you can see that there is a drive to update the SWA's five. For example, an Islands region, which makes more sense now that a greater number exist. Many maps attempt to distinguish different Highland regions - after all, Speyside used to be seen as one such Highland region. Historically, all that mattered was the Highland Line, splitting Scotch whisky in two. Every other internal distinction followed later.
Scotland has the capacity to shift its whisky regions into whisky terroirs. After all, the country has a widely varied geography and (while locals might not admit it) climate. The Highlands receive around half the annual sunshine of the southern coastline, and Scotland’s western coast receives five times the rainfall of the east! There are distinct soil types everywhere, and local grains have been used for whisky everywhere from Islay to Fife. There are some efforts to use local grain being made, but we'll discuss those more below. For now, let's explain exactly how I see whisky terroirs being established...
The Eight Points of Whisky Terroir
1. 'Terroir' =/= 'Better'
A whisky can be made with 100% local materials and still be bad - or come out of a soulless factory and still taste good! We all know taste is subjective, and the tastes people seek are equally diverse. If we look at wine’s terroir, that also doesn’t have any bearing on whether you personally enjoy it or not. The same should apply to whisky.
Quality and local provenance are not necessarily linked, and even distilleries maximising ‘raw’ or ‘authentic’ products naturally want some means of ensuring stability and consistency. More than that, they will naturally want to experiment, so not all their whiskies will align equally with their distinct local terroir.
A while back, I toyed with the idea of creating a terroir 'score' system. Of course, you can’t put an exact number on the concept, just like you can’t put a precise number on how ‘good’ a whisky tastes. I also wondered if terroir was a category with a yes and a no; if whisky A just has terroir and whisky B doesn't. Broad scoring bands, letter grades, percentages... these approaches all had pitfalls, not least implying that ‘more terroir = better whisky’.
Pushing away from any snobbery which could attach itself to this discussion, we need to be clear: a whisky which showcases a local terroir is great, but this is not required for a good tasting whisky!
"Sorry guys, your local terroir happens to be wet dog and sour cream. I don't make the rules..."
2. Terroir does NOT mean sit back and let "nature" take the wheel
The image of terroir as something emerging from a specific landscape can seem to mean ‘let nature control what happens’. People use 'nature' here to vaguely mean 'without human intervention', yet whisky requires human input and choice by definition. Wine is one thing - at its simplest extreme, the drink almost makes itself. You crush grapes and they ferment in their own yeast. Of course, humans can (and do) add extra steps to refine the process, and modern grape varieties have been developed by human involvement over millennia.
Even more clearly than wine, whisky never appears organically without human intervention. You can’t leave grain in a pot and end up with whisky. Spontaneous fermentation will give you beer (and it's used for whiskymaking at Winestillery Florentis), but distillation and maturation both require manufacturing and continuous, conscious choices to be made. While you can develop terroir by emphasising the local or ‘natural’ characteristics of your ingredients, the human element of choice is always present. If terroir exists in whisky, it must account for this human element.
"What do you mean, 'we don't just put some grain in a jar and pray'?"
3. Terroir IS repeatable
To say that a given whisky has a given terroir, we need to see certain flavours or characteristics appearing reliably, emerging from a consistent set of processes. You can’t take whatever happens to your latest batch and just call that variation ‘terroir’. While individual batches of spirit will always vary, there is a difference between controlled and uncontrolled variation; between expected and unexpected variation.
"If every batch is a single batch... then there's no such thing as a single batch."
4. Terroir must start with grain...
We need locally grown grain for whisky terroir, especially if unique or heritage varieties are available. Even common strains of grain can produce distinct effects when sourced from different areas. This has been backed up by studies in recent years, and anyone who has tried Rozelieures, Waterford, or Domaine des Hautes Glaces expressions from different fields will testify to these differences. If you're Mark Reynier, this is where terroir starts and ends, but as you'll see from the rest of this piece, I believe grain is simply the critical first step in building a whisky terroir.
As Dave Broom noted in his 2022 article arguing for 'bioregionalism',
"[Terroir] mainly seems to talk about grain variety. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great thing to do, because grain has flavour... But it really focuses on the field itself, while bioregionalism covers all of that as well as the culture of the people living within the specific area, and other factors can also be considered.”
What I'm really trying to do here is expand on ideas like this and make them into something less unwieldy than 'bioregionalism'; to make terroir encompass these factors that Broom is talking about. While he's very right that grain isn't everything, it is the critical starting point for building a truly local flavour.
The choice of grain matters even more than its origin. Barley provides a great point of comparison between distilleries, as seen in the strength of the ‘single malt’ category. It grows in a good range of climates, has a rich flavour and near unmatched diastatic power. However, barley should not be the automatic default for whisky producers, as seems to happen when so many look to emulate Scotch whisky.
A proper implementation of whisky terroirs across Europe will need to get away from the Scotch-derived fixation with single malt. Barley is still a great grain for flavour (and the distilling practicalities of its diastatic power), but this map above shows how that doesn't make sense for the rest of Europe. Barley is common and widely grown, but corn needs a lot more love, as does wheat. This map does not tell the whole story, but it still illustrates the fact that barley is not the alpha and omega of whiskymaking.
If you're a distiller in an area which traditionally grows rye, use rye in your whisky! If you use a particular barley variety for local beer; if a particular grain is famous for local bread; if your local climate dictates very specific growing conditions: these are all factors to take into account. Whisky must be made from ‘cereal grains’ under EU (and Scottish) law, but that gives you a lot of choice. Beside the more common barley, rye, wheat, and maize, which already encompass hundreds of local varieties/strains, the European Commission’s list of ‘cereal grains’ includes:
- Buckwheat - already used already in Eddu and Tassilo whisky
- Canary Seed or Alpiste - mostly grown for birdseed, but is also used as food in parts of Italy, North Africa, Mexico and the Canary Islands (hence the name). There is already Canary Island whisky, so it’s a realistic grain to use!
- Durum wheat - grown for food, but whisky has been made from it
- Emmer and Einkorn - ancient forms of wheat already used by Distillerie Farthofer and Brennerei Roßmann (Germany)
- Oats - a sustainable grain that grows well in European latitudes, but very rarely are they used for whisky today.
- Rice - Simon’s Feinbrennerei makes a whisky using local rice and Spessart oak in Germany
- Spelt - primitive wheat variant emerging as a fashionable, flavourful grain for multiple European distillers
- Triticale - a wheat-rye hybrid developed in 19th century Scotland and Germany. Slovakian distillers Nestville use 40% triticale in their blended whiskies
N.B. This list would look very different in other parts of the world - this is just a European focus!
A final note - smoke. Scotland's peated whiskies are well loved all over the world, and many European distilleries have started producing peated whiskies using imported Scottish barley. While the impulse to imitate a beloved style of whisky is understandable, there's no way this can work for producers pursuing a local terroir. However, there are plenty of alternatives which, in turn, can better develop local terroir. Some other areas of Europe have their own peat, and distilleries have used these local sources in Austria, Czechia, and the Netherlands for starters.
Secondly, wood smoke! The key source of smoke flavour in foods, this can be used just as well for smoking/drying grains used in whisky production. In Denmark, the beech tree has national significance and beech-smoked malt has been used to make whisky there with a distinctive kind of smokiness to it. This is how to develop a terroir without just resorting to imported peated malt.
"Fields of Gold is about single malt production - change my mind."
5. Local Yeast and Longer Ferments
So long overlooked in Scottish distilling, yeast might be one of terroir’s most important facets. As any sourdough baker or lambic brewer can tell you, local yeast varieties vary by area. Yeast cultures in contact with their environment will naturally become local and specific over time, and yeast strains can be isolated from local sources, like grain crops themselves.
This also goes for bacteria, which most terroir-led whiskies should emphasise in their fermentation. Longer ferments generally provide more time for the congeners produced by different yeasts to diverge. This also lets local lactobacilli get involved, further creating divergent and distinct aromas. This could also include allowing ambient local temperatures to affect fermentation, as yeasts produce different compounds at different temperatures.
These are all generalisations - buying in a specific yeast or using a short ferment could absolutely form part of a whisky’s connection to local culture or ideas. The point is that these should only be done in specific ways when it furthers a whisky’s terroir, not with a mind to maximum alcohol-producing efficiency.
"Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble, yeast ferment and washback bubble..."
6. Distillation is where terroir can fall apart - but it doesn’t have to
Distillation is the key point of human interaction in the whiskymaking process, where choices made over a few hours will select what survives from the base ingredients and spend years maturing into the final product. Whether whisky is double or triple distilled, hybrid or plain pot distilled, in/direct fired... all these choices strongly impact what parts of the original grain and its fermented products will actually make it into the final whisky.
This process can absolutely wipe out individual terroir - I would argue it already does in many Scottish distilleries. The most egregious examples come from continuous stills. Again, there's nothing inherently 'wrong' with the whisky they produce, taste-wise - but they cannot pass on any distinctive qualities from the earlier phases of whisky production. Hybrid stills with a few copper plates in the neck, used for batch distillation by many small distilleries, are not inherently a problem, but they do need more careful consideration for anyone trying to preserve the terroir in their whisky wash.
Some distilleries already have a certain type of still present as the 'obvious' choice for their whisky terroir. Irish distillers will probably look at triple distilling; Balkan distillers might have a distinctively shaped kazan za rakiya; a French distiller might find old cognac stills for sale and use those.
I believe the key to preserving terroir through distillation is considering what form/method/style of distillation aligns with the earlier steps of production, and takes the results of those steps further. New distillers should produce a variety of early batches to triangulate what it is they are trying to preserve, but most of all, distilling techniques should be actively chosen and pursued to further the desired end result of the terroir.
If a rough, potent single malt is the end result that makes sense for your terroir, you should probably be distilling hot and fast. If you're surrounded by large forests where wood is harvested commercially, why not wood-fired stills? Maybe your local wineries use steam distillation to produce grappa/aguardiente, so you could try using those same stills for whisky? Don't overlook the role of condensers here either. Would a worm tub's meatiness align with your local terroir, or muddle it? Shell and tube condensers may be the defacto industry standard, but they might not be right for everyone.
"Oh yay... yet another double distilled single malt using Forsyths stills. Never seen one of those before..."
7. Maturation - Yes, you can use all kinds of barrels
As with distillation, this final stage of whiskymaking has the potential to completely overwrite whisky terroir. Everyone tells you that a majority of whisky's flavour comes from the cask, and maturation is certainly key to determining a dram’s final flavours. However, most wooden casks are not locally sourced; local oak is not always available or even suitable. Even expanding the cask type to other woods besides oak, local wood is not a reasonable prerequisite for terroir in whisky. As with smoke/peat, this would not be an environmentally sustainable (or affordable) provision. Besides, who says the flavour of local wood is always going to be suitable for the other flavours which constitute the local terroir?
This does not have to be an obstacle to developing the localised flavours of a whisky terroir. After all, no-one says that Scotch whisky isn’t a truly 'Scottish' product, just because the oak used to mature it comes from places like Spain and the USA. I believe a variety of approaches can be used to ensure we keep answering that key question: how can we further emphasise local flavours in whisky by aligning maturation with all other stages of production?
1 - Some distillers can use local oak casks. Anyone in the eastern United States and southern Ontario, for example, has abundant quercus alba right on their doorstep. So long as the vanilla and coconut notes of this wood suits their whisky, distillers here can feel free to use these readily available casks. The example shown above comes from Finland. European oak mostly consists of quercus robur / petraea. Whiskies aged with locally sourced oak exist in Brittany, France, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland... This local wood can be stretched by just using it as a finish. As always, this is only worth doing if the flavours this local oak provides align with everything produced in the earlier phases of whisky production.
2 - Other local woods can be used, such as chestnut (Castanea Sativa), Dolomite spruce (Picea Abies), larch (Larix Decidua), or acacia (Robinia Pseudoacacia). This has already been done by distillers in France, Italy, and Germany, but the practice could certainly be expanded on to increase the options available for local wood which can, if suitable, add to a whisky's terroir.
3 - Non-local wood can be chosen to align with the terroir elements present in a distillery's base spirit. What does that mean? Distillers can take cues from the distinctive flavours produced in each previous step of production, culminating in their new make spirit. They can then choose casks which specifically emphasise these flavours. For example, let’s say you make a spirit with distinctive aromas of grapefruit, green apple, and honey. You don’t have any local oak casks to age it in. However, you then find some Spanish white wine and Manzanilla casks which impart similar flavours. Done right, this should be 100% permissible as a way to develop whisky terroir.
4 - You could choose a cask which introduces very new flavours to your spirit, but which still makes sense for your region. So long as those new flavours don't override everything you did in the earlier steps, this can work for some whisky terroirs. Maybe your region is famous for something besides whisky which is also cask-aged, especially other spirits or fortified beer/wine. A distiller in northern Portugal would have port casks on their doorstep, full of dark red fruit notes. Maybe those doesn't completely align with the flavours derived from local grain. Even so, these port casks could still be suitable if the end result combines these two disparate sources of flavour - so long as one does not clash with / obscure the other.
Welsh whisky could become a good example of this. Penderyn decided to use madeira-seasoned American oak casks for their signature whisky, and that has inadvertently become a kind of Welsh whisky trademark. Not only has the country's leading whiskymaker doubled down on this approach for years, but other distilleries like Da Mhile and Aber Falls have also produced some of their best drams using Madeira casks. You might not think Wales and Portugal have much in common, but it seems this style of maturation really suits the sweet, buttery styles of spirit that Welsh distillers generally prefer. Why not make Madeira casks an official part of a Welsh whisky terroir?
5 - One of the simplest ways to help whisky terroir survive maturation is the use of old, exhausted casks for maturation. You can’t override terroir with cask flavour if there isn’t any left! Whisky has to be aged for at least three years in Europe (in wooden casks under 700L), but there’s no law saying how much or how little flavour that has to add. This won’t work well for all whiskies - indeed, I think this won't be a good option for most distilleries. That said, it’s certainly an option worth considering, and it's the main approach taken by Domaine des Hautes Glaces. It would especially make sense (in my opinion) if you produce a very fruity or light new make.
"This climate influence on maturation all seems a bit airy-fairy to me..."
8. Climate shapes the maturation process
The choice of cask is not the only factor to consider when it comes to terroir in whisky maturation. We know that ageing is affected by the environment surrounding casks. Temperature, humidity, and other factors like salinity all shape a spirit's development over time. Distillers should consider what makes most sense for their whisky, again considering local circumstances and options. As much as possible, let the local climate shape how your whisky ages: let the air in!
A great example is Thy, where the warehouses have perforated walls to bring in the salty air of the Danish coast. In Germany, some whiskies age in old salt mines / caves, taking advantage of extremely high humidity and low temperatures to age whisky in a distinctive way. Scottish dunnage warehouses are a fine example of a distinctive environment for ageing whisky.
Conclusion
Each whisky terroir needs to cover a specific area and delimit what distillers can do for each of the eight steps of production above. That will leave each terroir with a given set of flavours. Inspiration can come from all angles. A unique local grain, a cask type which is readily available, a culinary tradition, a cultural institution: ideally as many of these as possible. Many distilleries currently hit one or two of these points, maybe several: but under this model, every future whisky terroir in Europe would require whiskies using their label to hit all eight criteria.
Of course, this model still leaves room for variation between individual distilleries. Taking a nod from Scotch whisky regions, each terroir should only be established if at least three distilleries fall within it. Without that, you can't triangulate a distinct terroir, and you end up conflating local terroir with a distillery's own individual style.
To recap, each whisky terroir needs each of the following to be distinctive, localised, and shared across at least three distilleries. Each needs to specify details of production for the eight following elements:
Choice of grain
Source of grain
Yeast
Fermentation
Distillation
Maturation
Cask type
Climate
I made the diagram above to visualise these eight ideas coming together. Each whisky terroir would specify grains and grain varieties which make sense for the local area (1), and source that grain from within the specified terroir area (2). That should cover a consistent geography, with minimal changes in soil climate, elevation, etc. These grains need to be fermented using specific yeasts, ideally chosen for flavour development rather than maximum efficiency. (3) Local strains or those isolated from local grains themselves are ideal.
Fermentation length would be specified, alongside any details such as temperature control (or the lack of it). Ideally, most terroirs will specify a longer fermentation to allow more complex congener development, including lacto-fermentation (4). Distillation needs to be batch/pots, not continuous/column, with still type and speed/temperature/fuel chosen to further the local style (5). Finally, this spirit must be matured within the specified terroir area, not outsourced to some distant warehouse (6). The wooden casks used to do this will also be specified (7), and the local climate should be allowed to influence maturation (8).
All that remains is to lay out where such terroir regions could be found in Europe. Below are my speculations, ready to be refined and discussed. Let me know what you think!
Appendix: Possible Whisky Terroirs of Europe
Potential Examples
Fife (SC)
Jura (FR)
| Terroir Element | Details |
|---|---|
| Distilleries | Aberargie, Lindores, Eden Mill, Daftmill, Kingsbarns, Leven, Cameronbridge, Inchdairnie |
| Grain choice | Barley, Rye |
| Grain source | Fife |
| Yeast | Local grain yeasts |
| Fermentation | Any |
| Distillation | Copper pot stills |
| Maturation | >3 years in Fife |
| Cask Type | Oak |
| Terroir Element | Details |
|---|---|
| Distilleries | La Maison du Vigneron, La Rouget de Lisle, Brulerie Du Revermont |
| Grain choice | Barley, Tuyé (smoked), wheat (https://www.intercereales.com/les-cereales-en-bourgogne-franche-comte) |
| Grain source | Jura departement (39) |
| Yeast | Local grain or wine yeasts |
| Fermentation | >5 days |
| Distillation | Traditional Charentais stills |
| Maturation | >6 years and 3 months in Jura département (39) |
| Cask Type | >1 year in vin jaune, vin de paille, or macvin |
Cornwall (EN)
Zuid Limburg (NL)
| Terroir Element | Details |
|---|---|
| Grain choice | Wheat (https://www.cornishgoldengrains.co.uk), Naked oats (https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/cornish-oat-pillas), Buckwheat (ties to Brittany) |
| Grain source | Cornwall or Devon |
| Yeast | Cider yeast |
| Fermentation | >7 days |
| Distillation | Any pot still |
| Maturation | >3 years in Cornwall or Devon |
| Cask Type | Any |
| Terroir Element | Details |
|---|---|
| Grain choice | Any |
| Grain source | Limburg |
| Yeast | Any |
| Fermentation | Any |
| Distillation | Grain-in distillation, copper pot stills |
| Maturation | >3 years in Limburg |
| Cask Type | Any, but must include a Limburg wine cask for >6 months |
Schwarzwald (DE)
Down (IE)
| Terroir Element | Details |
|---|---|
| Grain choice | Any |
| Grain source | Baden Württemberg |
| Yeast | Schnapps or wine yeasts |
| Fermentation | >1 week |
| Distillation | Double distillation, copper pot stills |
| Maturation | >2 years in Baden Württemberg, must include casks for another 'Black Forest' product: wine, kirsch, beer, etc |
| Cask Type | Any |
| Terroir Element | Details |
|---|---|
| Grain choice | Barley, wheat, oats |
| Grain source | Co.s Down, Louth, or Antrim |
| Yeast | Any |
| Fermentation | >6 days |
| Distillation | Triple distillation, copper pot stills |
| Maturation | >3 years in Co.s Down, Louth, or Antrim |
| Cask Type | Any |
Germany
See the example of the Black Forest above. Lots of whiskies already use the name to describe where they're from, and the area has a proud cultural tradition - not to mention culinary traditions and a distinct landscape! Approximately 20-25 distilleries lie in this area, including really good ones like Scheibel. There's also a lot of 'Swabian' whiskies, both in self-labelling and geography, so a Swabian terroir might also work well, though the limits need to carefully worked out.
Brandenburg contains several of Germany's best distilleries - an unusually high consistency of quality! In total there are 6 (Preussische, Grumsiner, Glina, Old Sandhill Whisky/Eggenstein, Spreewald/Stork Club, Burg House). The area has a distinct marshy landscape, and is one of the few regions in Europe where rye is not just popular but the no. 1 grown crop. Stork Club is one of Germany's better known whisky producers, and they make a rye, so that all fits together quite nicely.
Scotland
Speyside has many distilleries in a small space, with a distinctive, reputed style. However, there are almost too many, and local grain? Farm distilleries? Climate, culture? No good on those counts. The Highlands offer some interesting options, but they're all undermined by the fact that very few Scottish distilleries focus on local materials. Most of them are in Fife or Islay . These two small parts of Scotland are also home to most of the country's farm distilleries.
NB. Islay produces about 26,000 tonnes of barley per year, enough to produce about 10-11m LPA - quite a lot, actually! Turning some of Islay's fields over to growing bere or rye would increase this number further still. current total production on Islay is something around 24m LPA, so there would still be a significant shift needed to get everything in line here... Genuinely, growing barley on new farms on Jura would make a massive difference to this number, and Jura should likely be part of the Islay terroir.
As noted above, these areas have very different climates and soils on their respective coasts, though both as at Scotland's southern edge. The Islay terroir has local peat, a distinct style... It may also make sense to create a 'Lowland' terroir and have Fife as a subcategory of that, but looking at other distilleries around the Lowlands, very few match the local attention and care of those in Fife. The exceptions, such as Lochlea, are too spread out. There is also a lot of potential for Orkney . Much further north, it has a notably different climate and style of peat. It just has enough distilleries to count. It may make sense to include Caithness, bringing in 8 Doors, Wolfburn, and Old Pulteney.
Local grain would be the main issue for this terroir (ditto with Islay), but bere barley has a long history in Orkney, and has been shown by local distillers to produce good results. It could be a fantastic example of whiskey terroir in practice if grown and used locally. Likewise, Campbeltown just has enough distilleries for a terroir, though that number is currently increasing. Springbank has some of the best claim to pursuing terroir of any existing distillery (despite never saying so), so there is a strong basis for such a claim there too.
Overall, I think we're looking at Islay (& Jura), Fife, Orkney, and Campbeltown as the maximum extent of whiskey terroirs in Scotland at present. Getting enough local grain is going to be main issue here, as is the regulation of peating and which casks are permitted. Have fun telling the SWA any of this!
France
The one country with a real head starts here! A lot of existing focus on terroir, not to mention the Alsace and Brittany whiskey GIs. Both those areas make perfect sense as terroirs of their own for whiskey, and have 9 / 13 distilleries respectively, so that's two to start with.
Many distilleries are clustered around Cognac, though that's a confusing name for obvious reasons. A Poitou-Charentes whisky terroir might disambiguate the two spirits better. 10 distilleries, one of which surely produces Brenne. Cognac stills and casks, a distinct climate - the direction for that terroir is obvious.
Jura is small but has some very distinct winemaking, climate, and culture which could make for a Campbeltown-esque terroir. Normandy is in contention too, with around 5 distilleries, a distinct coastal climate, and cidermaking tradition. Finally, there are a series of distilleries clustered around the Alps (Lachanenche, Hautes Glaces, Vercors, du Drac, Mont Blanc) which could create an Alpine terroir, though the common cultural basis for that is a bit more shaky, I fear.
Ireland
The island's climate is relatively uniform, but the east coast is warmer/sunnier than the west, and there are some distilleries inland. There are broad cultural shifts in line with the four provinces, to say nothing of the split engendered by the border. Local grain is still not a big focus, but Irish grain overall is still used a lot. There are farm distilleries at Ballykeefe and Echlinville ('Our barley crops are nurtured by the unique micro-climate of the Ards Peninsula.').
The smallest unit of Irish culture and geography is the county, and there are only so many with three distilleries plus. Based on that, I think the following whiskey terroirs could make sense for Ireland: Down, Donegal, Mayo, Cork, Kerry. Down has several distilleries, including Echlinville and Rademon Estate. Donegal only has three, but all three of them are already very conscious of their location. If local grain can be sourced, they would all be in with a great shot of establishing a distinct terroir.
Netherlands
You could do a South Limburg terroir. 3 distilleries, a distinct culture and climate/geography within the Netherlands... Mworveld, Ingendael, and Gerlachus certainly pay a lot of attention to their location, but they aren't completely centered on local materials. Some work needed, but a solid start. Friesland and Groningen both have 3+ distilleries too, and are notably colder, wetter, and flatter.
Of the two, I would say only Friesland has a distinct culture which distilleries acknowledge there, and Oer Frysk is made using old local grain varieties. Isle of Schylge distillery also presents interesting Frisian island culture. Texel is part of North Holland, technically, but it is still a Frisian island - perhaps that could be included in a Frisian whiskey terroir?
Twente has four distilleries, including the local-oak-focused Sculte. Many distilleries in the Netherlands are a bit too small to focus on here, but those in Twente are some of the more serious and long-lived. The only distillery on the western coast / in Holland proper which focuses on terroir elements is Cley , so no good for a terroir region there. Finally, North Brabant. Culture and geography, check - they have Bus , a single estate distillery, as well as Baronie who use local grain (although it could be more local...). Zuidam uses local grain, and Moutmolen uses a classic windmill to grind their grain... as always, more work would need to happen to align these distilleries into a proper Brabant terroir, but it could easily be done (and include a few nearby distilleries in Limburg like Drie Hoorns).
England
Fielden whiskey from Oxfordshire would be great for terroir, only there isn't enough to build a region around it. A Wessex/West Country terroir has potential. Circumstance does craft distilling in Bristol which could easily focus on local materials and culture; Witchmark, Ten Hides, and Retribution are all using local grain; the area has a distinct culture; Retribution even uses local peat from Somerset.
Cornwall works well given the area's distinct geography and culture. There are eight distilleries there already, and two Devonian distilleries (in Dartmoor) should also be included for sharing so many of these characteristics. Not many of these distilleries are heading in a terroir direction at the moment, but there is plenty of potential. Yorkshire is the other possibility for an English whiskey terroir. With five distilleries, a distinct culture and geography, the building blocks are there. Not much to say while many of these distilleries are still quite young, but it could be done.
Austria
The country has an obvious split between the mountainous Alps and the lowlands around the Danube. The eastern side of the country produces wine, from the aptly named Weinviertel down to the Steiermark. While the country has around 40 distilleries making whisky, only 13 of them are part of the Austrian Whiskey Association ; the ones more likely to already make whiskey in a serious way which could showcase some terroir.
Lower Austria has the best evidence for being an existing whiskey terroir in Austria. There are several AWA distilleries here, not least Haider (see my blog about that visit). There's a consistent climate, though it is west of all the country's wine regions. You could have an internal division for Waldviertel vs Mostviertel, but the latter really only includes Seppelbauer and Farthofer. Both are great distilleries growing their own grain and finding ways to make their whiskeys more local, and they're only a little more low-lying than some of the Waldviertel distilleries like Rogner. Of other producers in this region, Der Zweiger does at least use local Styrian oak casks, and Weutz talk about making 'Styrian whisky'. But beyond that, they're not focusing much on whiskey making.
Would an Alpine terroir end up covering the entire rest of the country? This would need to be carefully evaluated, as if you're only using part of the Alps, which part? Not sure if Brennerei Pfau would fall under the Austrian Alpine terroir, or something lowland, as they're located by the Wörthersee with a lowland climate, but otherwise surrounded by the Alps. They don't produce a particularly terroir-focused whiskey at present, but they could work towards it in future.
There are clusters in the Tyrol (around the Inn) and in Vorarlberg, a small region at Austria's western edge. That has Broger, Pfanner, and Keckeis. Broger make several types of whisky, including one using local Riebelmais , and their smoked whiskeys use beechwood, as do several other Austrian distilleries. Other than that, not much to say re: terroir, but that corn could be a fantastic starting point for a terroir which could also be used by distillers on the Swiss side of the Rhine. It's hundreds of years old , grown exclusively here, and almost entirely consumed here.
Switzerland
Like Austria, there are only two real climates/geographies in Switzerland: the Alps, and the Central Plateau. There are almost no distilleries in the Jura mountains to the west, so we can ignore them. The vast majority of Swiss whiskeys come from outside the Alps, on the plateau. There are few distinct clusters of distilleries within this broad area, and the quality varies across the country. Despite plenty of potential for craft products, I don't know if specific terroirs can yet be pinned down within Swiss whisky. The country's wine regions are all very small and also scattered across the country, so no more guidance there either. Maybe there should just be one 'Swiss' terroir?
Denmark
While Denmark isn't that big, and it seems pretty uniform in geography, there is still good potential for whiskey terroir here - certainly on a national level, if not subdivided into regions. The western coast (of Jutland) gets the most rain and wind, and the country gets a little drier/sunnier as you move east towards Bornholm. You can't get more than about 55km from the sea in Denmark, and the highest point is only 170m. Outside Jutland, almost every Danish distillery is right by the coast. That doesn't lend itself to a terroir region, but it does say a lot for what 'Danish Whiskey' means overall.
The country's western coast includes Stauning, Thy, Knaplund, and Nordisk distilleries (from the Danish Whiskey Manifesto; there are other small ones). Especially with two of the country's largest distilleries, both very focused on a distinctive style, West Jutland would make a lot of sense as a whiskey terroir. You can easily demarcate it using the coast and Jutland Ridge, and the area has its own distinct culture and food too. Maybe East Jutland could also work in turn, including Fary Lochan, Mosgaard, Trolden, and Sall?
Belgium
The natural split would be Flanders and Wallonia, both culturally and geographically. While the former has more distilleries (and inhabitants overall), Wallonia's six distilleries still form some potential for whiskey terroir. Belgian Owl would certainly like to think so, sourcing their barley specifically from Hesbaye. Most share the same Meuse/Ardennes geography, the only exception currently being Mont St Jean. The only issue is that both terroirs would have very similar grains and climates - a lot of attention would need to be paid to exact yeast and grains in order to produce a better distinction. Something tells me the right us of lambic fermentation and local beer/wine casks could be very useful.
Sweden
An enormous country with more distilleries than you might think, yet Swedish whisky is dominated by a handful of heavy hitters: Mackymra (RIP), Hven, High Coast, Smögen, and Agitator. Those five are all spread quite evenly around the country, though as in Denmark, they can all be found by the coastline. Hven's use of island grain makes a good case for terroir, but they would make sense more as part of an international Oresund/Skåne region than anything broader within Sweden. Beyond that, I don't think there's a broader case for anything more specific than a national Swedish Whiskey GI, though that in itself could go far in promoting the now-lagging presence of Swedish whiskey internationally.
Italy
There's only one answer here - the Trentino/SudTirol area. 5 lie in the former, but there's also Villa de Varda just over in the provincial line in Trentino, and it absolutely merits inclusion here. You have the Dolomites, distinctive wine casks, high altitude growing for cereals, and a distinct ethos/culture. Every box is pretty well ticked for a Trentino-South Tyrol whiskey terroir, while the rest of Italy's distilleries are still very new and dispersed.
Spain
There's no way the country could all be one region, what with the wildly varying geography of the north coast, Pyrenees, central plains, Sierra Nevada... but there are two clusters of distilleries which could potentially provide the basis for distinct terroirs. Around Madrid, some small urban malt distilleries and DYC can be found. The main issue is that DYC has nothing in common with the others - it has a singular status within the country! Much larger, it also makes grain whisky, and pays little attention to local craft... its not bad whisky, but it is bad terroir. some changes would have to be made for a proper Madrid terroir to coalesce.
Cantabria has three whiskey distilleries: Sierra del Oso, Siderit, and Picos de Cabariezo. Very small and new, but it could work! Also, Euskadi only has two, but there are also two distilleries on the French side of the Basque Country which could form an effective cross-border region here. The only issue to account for would be the climate variations across the Pyrenees... solve that, and a Basque terroir would make a lot of sense.
Wales
Honestly, I think the whole country could count as one terroir! You can't get more than 50/60km from the coast, the country is covered with hills/mountains, and it's too small to have many distinct climatic zones. Microclimates, sure, but nothing to internally differentiate it significantly. While you have a North/South cultural divide, there's no way that would be expressed in the country's whisky. However, that all means that one terroir for the whole country works pretty well.
Czechia
Moravia only has two distilleries (TOSH and R. Jelinek), so while they are two of Czechia's best whiskey distilleries, I think the region is ineligible for its own terroir. Bohemia has seven distilleries, though all widely spread out - A Bohemian terroir is certainly plausible. Czechia overall might seem a large area to cover with a single terroir, but again, it has a pretty uniform climate. Likely the best option is a broader Czech Whiskey GI ensuring all whiskeys made in Czechia use local materials, and then Bohemia can be specified as a terroir under that umbrella.
Norway
Norwegian whiskey is certainly coastal - of the country's eight distilleries, the furthest inland is only nine km from the coast! The country certainly has distinct climate and geography, stretching over hundreds of kilometers north to south; its head in the Arctic, its feet level with Inverness. However, that small number of distilleries spread across the enormous coastline makes any kind of more specific terroir hard to pin down. Like Czechia, there may well be a distinctive quality to 'Norwegian Whisky', but it can't really be subdivided beyond that.
Finland
The country now has seven distilleries, and has some fantastic whiskeys made using local materials. Rye is certainly key, but there's HDC corn and of course, Teerenpeli malt whiskey too... but I don't think we can be any more specific than 'Finnish Whisky'.
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