What does peat taste like?

I recently got a bottle of lagavulin 16, my first islay. I read the tasting notes and then bottoms up! At first I was grossed out. But last night, drinking it neat, I found it to be quite tasty! I vies it is somewhat of an acquired taste.

Anyhow, I definitely taste the iodine, seaweed, salt, and smoke.

But what is the peat component? Is it the combination of the above or is it just the smoke?

I'm gonna work on this bottle some more and then get some laphroig!

try tasting potting soil that should be close LOL

Peat is the stuff you find in a bog.
It is vegetable matter which is buried in still water.
It has a distinctive fragrance.
Once dried, it will burn.

Moss, leaves, and dead stuff, ... all rotted to some degree.
Makes Scotch whisky really tasty, but, YMMV.

Yes.. you got it right. Peat is the smoky flavor as well as the oiliness/resinous mouthfeel found only in the finest of islays Still working through my bottle of laphroaig 10

I think their coffee is great...oh wrong peat...

That's a nice Single Malt you have there. References to peat mean the smokiness, technically the phenol parts per million (ppm). I think at approximately 85 ppm our taste buds get maxed out. Lagavulin and Laphroaig are in the region of 35 ppm. Ardbeg Supernova is marketed at over 100 ppm and I'm trying to get to sample before I buy as I'm not sure about something so smokey.

like eating coal from the depths of the earths core.

Scotch.

This is by FAR my favorite Single Malt. Islay Scotches are my favorite due to the "Peat" taste. To really bring out the flavors, mix 1/3 to 1/2 of the Scotch with a good bottled water. (Try 1/3 at first.) this will enhance the flavors IMHO.

What you describe as seaweed and salt comes from the fact that Lagavulin is an Islay Scotch (i.e. it is distilled right near the ocean). What you describe as "iodine" is the most likely the peat. (My grandfather used to describe it as burnt rubber tires.. YMMV). Peat has a very earthy taste, and the taste is very noticeable if you have it side by side with, say, Bourbon which does not use any peat.

I thought the reason that the peat is associated with smoke is because peat was the only matter in the Islay region that could be burned to stop the barley from malting. Other regions have hardwoods available.

Pay close attention to your next dram for what you refer to as a seaweed flavor. I bet that's at least partly the peat's work as well: I'm guessing you're tasting both the briny flavor that the sea air gives to Islay malts, and the peatiness that comes through as a sort of vegetal quality along with the smokiness.

This is by FAR my favorite Single Malt. Islay Scotches are my favorite due to the "Peat" taste. To really bring out the flavors, mix 1/3 to 1/2 of the Scotch with a good bottled water. (Try 1/3 at first.) this will enhance the flavors IMHO.

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+1. In my experience, this does wonders for good scotch. Don't go crazy with the water: keep it added in restricted proportion to the whisky in the glass. I almost always find this a more interesting flavor experience that drinking the whisky completely neat.

FL shaver said:

I thought the reason that the peat is associated with smoke is because peat was the only matter in the Islay region that could be burned to stop the barley from malting. Other regions have hardwoods available.

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No, most if not all malts for Scotch are roasted over peat fires. The difference with the Islay malts is that the peat takes on a salty character from their proximity to the ocean.