Washington Peat

Westland's usage of peat as a regional flavor.

Contents

• 1. Washington Peat?
• 2. Westland Releases Using Washington Peat
• 3. Other Whiskies Using Washington Peat

Washington Peat?

“We’re not a cover band for Glenmorangie or something like that, you know? Although, I suppose you could do a lot worse.” - Jeffrey Howard¹

When Westland first started distilling they sourced Bairds Heavily Peated Malt from Scotland. Bairds in turn sources their peat from Aberdeenshire². This peated malt would make up the 100% Peated Malt that was one of the three primary grain bills for a number of years at Westland³⁴.

In parallel, Matt Hofmann began searching for local Washington peat including reading through a 1958 report from the State of Washington’s Deparment of Conservation that catalogued all of the peat resources in Washington state.⁵ Via that 1958 report, Hofmann was able to locate a Washington-state peat bog and gain access to harvest from it.

“We must make a product that reflects the distinct character of the place we call home, the Pacific Northwest.” - Co-Founder/Former Master Distiller Matt Hofmann⁶

Rather than drain the peat bog, Westland worked with the owners to create a process where the peat is harvested from underwater. Due to regional flora and fauna the Washington peat creates different flavors than Scottish peat.⁷

In public discussions, Westland does not generally disclose the exact location of the peat bog or who owns it. This site will follow Westland’s practice in this regard. The peat bog is generally described as being near Shelton, WA or Kamilche, WA. Early articles sometime provide more explicit details.⁸⁹¹⁰

Westland distilled using Washington peat between 2016 and 2023 via a partnership with Skagit Valley Malting, up until the closure of Skagit Valley Malting.¹¹¹²¹³

As of 2019, Westland is no longer sourcing peated malt from Bairds.

“The moment it clicked for me was a trip to Islay in 2017. We had already begun working with local peat and I knew our bog well, but I had never been to Scotland. Our team got to visit bogs, dig peat by hand, and tour distilleries like Ardbeg. It was beautiful there, but the lack of biodiversity at those bog sites was a striking contrast to home. Their bogs are largely peat mosses, sedge grasses, and heather. Ours carry labrador tea, big cranberry, mosses, and an impressive array of botanicals. That matters because the flavor peat contributes changes with its composition, which is affected by things like the depth it was cut from and the microclimates that shift which plants grew where within the bog itself. Burn a different plant community and you get different smoke. So far, our peated whiskey expressions are less medicinal in their smoke character, and more reminiscent of tobacco smoke with an herbacious earthiness.” - Master Distiller Tyler Pederson¹⁴

As of 2026, Westland has released five whiskies made with Washington peat.

To learn more about peat and peatlands in general, visit the International Peatland Society.

Westland Releases Using Washington Peat

• Solum
  • Solum Edition 1
  • Solum Edition 2
  • Solum Edition 3
• Peat Week
  • Peat Week 2026: Mossfire Mason
• Independent Bottling
  • The Heart Cut: #20 Westland

Other Whiskies Using Washington Peat

• Copperworks Distilling, Seattle, WA
  • Release 034: Peated Malt Whiskey
  • Release 036: Double Peated - WA peat, finished in an Ardbeg cask
  • Release 040: Single Cask WA Peated Malt Whiskey
  • Release 042: WA Peated American Single Malt Whiskey
  • Peatsmith, intended to be a perpetual release
  • Single Cask No. 497
    • Sip Magazine
    • American Whiskey Mag
  • Washington Peat was also featured in their Mystery Whiskey 2022 blend in 2022.
• The Hardware Distillery Co., Hoodsport, WA
• Heritage Distilling, Gig Harbor, WA
  • Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey: Peated Bourbon
    • STIEFEL’S SELECT PREMIUM WHISKEY: Single Barrel & Small Batch Whiskey Program
    • Ascot Awards: Stiefel’s Select Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey Peated
    • Sip Awards 2023 - Silver award under Single Barrel American Whiskey (up to 10 yrs)
    • Heritage Distilling, Celebrating 10 Years, Rolls Out Single Barrel Whiskeys
• Highside Distilling, Bainbridge Island, WA
  • Single Malt Cask No. 034
  • Peated Single Malt
• Maury Island Whiskey, Vashon-Maury Island, WA
  • Goldilocks
  • Half Dark Oak Smoked
  • Half Medium Oak Smoked
  • Hungarian Knight
  • Minecraft
  • Quarter Dark Oak Smoked
  • Silverlocks

1. West of Tradition, 2026 ↩

2. reddit: r/worldwhisky We’re Westland Distillery, ask us anything!  ↩

3. Malt Mileage: Q&A with Westland Distillery (Seattle, USA) ↩

4. YouTube: Single Malt Frontier: SMF Ep. 53: American Peat with Tyler Pederson of Westland Distillery ↩

5. Bulletin No. 44: Peat Resources of Washington by George B. Rigg, Washington State Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology ↩

6. Westland Distillery: Exploring Garry Oak ↩

7. Westland Journal: A Closer Look: Scottish Peat vs. Pacific Northwest Peat ↩

8. The Spokesman-Review: New frontier for craft U.S. whiskey may be underfoot in Olympic Peninsula bog ↩

9. K&L Spirits Journal: Westland Distillery: Day 3 – The Building Blocks of Industry ↩

10. Class Bar Magazine: Smoke signals - how American whiskey is turning to peat (archive.org) ↩

11. DemiTastes: The Skagit Valley Malting Closure & What It Means for American Peat ↩

12. Craft Maltsters Guild: Westland Distillery & Skagit Valley Malting Work to Create Locally-Harvested Peat Malt ↩

13. Skagit Valley Malting: How We Make Peat Smoked Malt ↩

14. LinkedIn: Tyler Pederson: I’m frequently asked about what makes American peat different, and what it’s like to make whiskey with it ↩