Peat and Whisky
Peat and Whisky: The Unbreakable Bond is, as one of the best-known aficionados attests, “among the most important books about whisky ever written.” Part travelogue, part popular science, and a love letter to Scotland’s most famous artisan product, Mike Billett’s account brings together landscapes, geology, ecology, history, people and their whisky, whilst also addressing an important current environmental issue: peatlands and their role in climate change.
The story of peat and its central role in the production and flavour of whisky is engagingly related through the author’s journey around Scotland and into its past – in ancient peatlands and bogs and the places where whisky has been made for centuries. It sheds light on a country and its history, especially through an oft-misunderstood component of the production of whisky. It looks back to a golden age of peat and whisky, as well as forward to a more challenging future.
As our natural resources and landscapes are increasingly contested, this is the essential read for all whisky lovers.
Mike Billett
As well as being a whisky connoisseur, Mike Billett is a leading peatland scientist with a background in geology, soil and water science. During his 40-year career in research and education – at the Universities of Edinburgh and Stirling and at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology – he researched and wrote extensively on the peatlands of the British Isles, Scandinavia and the Arctic, focusing on water quality, carbon, peatland management and environmental change, writing many research papers, book chapters, reports, and articles. In recent years he has immersed himself in the landscapes, taste and qualities of Scotland’s single malt whiskies and has applied his deep understanding of the science of peatlands to this passion. Peat and Whisky is his first non-academic book.