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Felipe’s Whisky Flavour Compounds: Phenols
Concluding our three-part exploration of flavour compounds in whisky [make sure you read the previous pieces on esters and aldehydes – Ed.], we’ll be focusing in this piece on the big smoky flavours provided by phenols. For anyone who loves smoke in their whisky, phenols are largely responsible for these excellent aromas.
Phenols make their way into whisky when barley is dried using peat smoke. Peat is plant matter (mostly sphagnum mosses) that has decomposed for thousands of years in an environment with no oxygen. The biological ingredients of the peat (and as a result, the flavours they impart to the whisky) can vary a little depending on where the peat was cut…
