Knockdhu Distillery, established in 1894, is arguably one of the most enchanting in the Scottish Highlands. Bounded by an abundance of natural resources wonderfully suited to whisky making, the distillery lies in the shadow of Knock Hill – home to springs of pure, clear water – and sits on the doorstep of a region rich in barley and peat.

A natural resource, peat was historically embraced as fuel to fire the still and dry the barley for the distillation of whisky.

Peat smoke produces compounds called phenols and it is by its phenol content that a whisky’s ‘peatiness’ can be measured. This phenol content is expressed as PPM (parts per million) and to ensure a consistently high phenol content, Peatheart uses barley specified by our Master Blender, malted to 34 PPM. Phenols are lost during the whisky making process at various stages meaning the final phenol content of the whisky is always less that the PPM of the malted barley. This batch of Peatheart has a PPM of 13.3.