Officially Organic

Within the many secrets of malt whisky lies a simple and romantic fact often highlighted by distillers: it is made from nothing more than water, barley and yeast. Processed together, an incredible variety of aromas and flavours emerge. However, sourcing of the most important of the three, barley, is rarely questioned or considered by whisky drinkers. Nevertheless, some distillers are now beginning to rethink the impact of a particular element of their supply chain that has changed little over decades; namely, the one in which barley is grown as a monoculture with the use of significant volumes of added chemicals.

Sparked by consumer interest, Scottish government policy and enlightened industry insiders, some pioneering distillers are entirely reconsidering how barley is sourced for production. They are releasing organic whisky that enables them to ask wider questions about the supplychain systems that reinforce current land use norms and environmental abuse for whisky’s sake. In line with the Scotch Whisky Association’s (SWA) goal to promote sustainable production and to achieve net-zero