Kilning is the process that completes the malting stage.

Because, for Scotch Whisky, there are significant differences created by the way the kilning, or the drying, of the germinating barley occurs (malted barley is germinated barley where the germination has been halted) , we have given this stage it’s own page.

The barley germination process is halted by warm air, by a mix of warm air and smoke from a peat kiln, or thirdly by smoke alone from a peat kiln. These three processes, in broad terms, create either an unpeated, a lightly peated, or a heavily peated malted barley.

The different levels of peating carry dramatically through to the flavour profile, not only of single malts, but also to blended Scotch Whiskies, because blends will include, or avoid, a percentage of peated single malts in their blend recipe.

Unlike the flavours found in Scotch Whisky from the later oak cask maturation process, the smokey style created by kilning diminshes over time. A young peated Single Malt will exhibit far more ‘peat reek’ or phenols than an identical spirit that has been in cask for a further 5 or 10 years.