The importance of barley variety for your whisky - Post by Whisky Magazine

Many would probably agree that it makes a huge difference which grape (or grapes) a regular table wine is made from, and it makes just as much of a difference where the grapes were grown.

In the context of wine production, we can talk about the concept of "terroir", which is a combination of all the characteristics that the geography, geology and microclimatic conditions of a particular locality impart to a specific grape variety. The same grape variety can be grown in two different regions with different "terroir", and the grape will produce two different wines.

As barley is one of the main ingredients in the production of a whisky, it's natural to wonder if you can imagine the barley variety having the same impact on your whisky as grape varieties have on wine? There are thousands of different barley varieties, but only a small proportion of these are approved for distillation. The varieties used today are predominantly Belgravia, Concerto, Propino, Quench, Shuffle, Moonshine, Odyssey, Chronicle and Overture. Varieties such as Oxbridge, Prisma, Chariot, Triumph and Golden Promise are only used to a limited extent. In the whisky industry, the most common assumption so far has been that while barley as a whole will naturally contribute to the flavor of a whisky, the specific barley variety will not have a significant impact, if any at all. The choice of barley variety is therefore made based on its ability to resist disease (in the field) and its ability to yield as high a yield as possible in terms of liters of alcohol per ton of barley used. This view is now being challenged by a number of distillers around the world. For example, some distillers have started using Golden Promise again, as they believe it gives a more oily character. There is also experimentation with old barley varieties, locally grown barley and the interaction of different yeast strains with different barley varieties. In fact, research is currently underway at the Scotch Whisky Research Institute on this very topic. One of the problems, however, is that it takes a very long time before you can really see the results. It may well be that a given barley variety contributes a slightly different flavor and character to the newly distilled spirit, but will it be noticeable after 30 years of maturation? We've only just seen the initial discussions and studies in this area.