The Bimber Distillery in London has released a peated single malt whisky that was aged in four previously used Bourbon barrels.
The 1st Peated bottling is a product of the distillery’s first completely peated run, which occurred in May 2019. It is aged in a combination of four extensively peated American oak ex-Bourbon barrels.
Master distiller and company founder Dariusz Plazewski exclaimed, “The team and I are genuinely happy to be able to offer The 1st Peated with whisky enthusiasts. This release marks a watershed moment in the long history of Bimber and our single-malt London whisky.
Aside from being the result of years of research and commitment, it’s hand-made, in-house manufacture also exemplifies “our continuous adherence to traditional production processes.”
All of the barley that goes into 1st Peated comes from Bimber’s one farm (Fordham & Allen in Basingstoke, Hampshire). After steeping for 40 hours, the barley is rotated every eight hours for the next five days. The next step is to dry it using a blend of dry and wet peat from Aberdeenshire.
After being smoked, grains are mashed and fermented for seven days in the distillery washbacks.
There is an ‘in-bottle’ proof level of 14.4 parts per million for the First Peated (parts per million).
For too long, the argument around peat levels has been a race to the top,” said distillery spokesman Matt McKay. Manufacturers have competed to show the highest PPM values possible without explaining to consumers what these figures actually signify regarding the degree to which whisky is peated once bottled.
The PPMs used to measure barley malt don’t consider that phenol levels naturally decline throughout the whisky-making process. They also fail to account for the significant impact of different distilleries’ use of various manufacturing techniques on this trend.
That 50 PPM barley used by one distillery is not always equivalent to the 50 PPM barley used by another. By introducing The 1st Peated with an in-bottle PPM, we will start a conversation regarding PPMs that will result in a more accurate representation of what’s in a bottle of whisky.
The 700 ml bottle has an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 54.1% and sells for £130 (around USD 154.88).
As of the 28th of November, you can get it by using a weighted ballot.
The distillery added four single malts aged in wine casks to its Spirit of the Underground series earlier this year.