A visit to Port Ellen Maltings

Welcome to Port Ellen Maltings

The Port Ellen Maltings is a large facility on the Scottish island of Islay that produces malted barley for use in the whisky industry.  It is the only commercial malting facility located along the entire length of the west coast of the UK, and the only one in the UK to use peat during the kilning part of the process.  It is peat and the smoke that it produces that gives the barley, and ultimately Islay's famous whiskies, the smoky flavour.  Port Ellen Maltings is not open to the public, but we were privileged to be taken on a tour during our recent trip to Islay.  Our guide was Maltings Manager Ramsey Borthwick.

Islay - The whisky island

The island of Islay (pronounced eye-la) is famous for its whisky and is home to eight single malt distilleries. As a result it is seen as a 'Mecca for whisky lovers' and many undertake their own personal pilgrimages. Islay is particularly associated with the smoky, peaty style. This stems from when the only form of fuel on the island was peat. Peat is soil that has been compacted over thousands of year and is traditionally cut in April and May each year. It is then left to dry out over the Summer, before being burnt as a fuel during the Winter.