Whisky · Explainer
What does ppm mean for whisky?
Ppm stands for parts per million: 1 ppm is 1 milligram of phenol per kilogram of malt. The number is measured on the malted barley arriving at the distillery, not on the whisky in your glass. Between malt and bottle, phenols are lost during milling, mashing, fermenting, distilling and maturing. A ppm figure therefore describes the raw material.
In brief
The key figures
| What ppm stands for | Parts per million |
|---|---|
| Unit | 1 ppm is 1 milligram of phenol per kilogram of malt |
| What is measured | The malted barley on arrival at the distillery |
| What is not measured | The whisky in the bottle |
| Where the phenols come from | From the smoke of peat while the malt is drying |
| Where phenols disappear | Milling, mashing, fermenting, the cut during distilling, and maturation |
| Legal standard for ppm | None; the rules concern maturation, casks, location and alcohol strength |
| What ppm does not determine | How smoky the whisky seems in the glass |
What does ppm stand for?
Ppm is the abbreviation of parts per million: 1 ppm means 1 milligram of phenol per kilogram of malt.
Phenols are the compounds behind the smoky character of peated whisky. They end up in the barley when the malt is dried over a peat fire; the smoke settles on the moist grain.
The laboratory then measures how much phenol there is per kilo of that malt. That is a weight ratio, not a flavour scale.
Is ppm measured in the whisky or in the malt?
Ppm is measured on the malted barley delivered to the distillery, not on the distilled or matured whisky.
Scotchwhisky.com explains this explicitly: the figure refers to the malt as it comes in, not to the phenols in the final spirit. A bottle that says 50 ppm therefore does not contain 50 ppm phenol.
Anyone who compares two bottles by their ppm figure is therefore comparing two batches of barley and not two whiskies.
How much is lost between malt and bottle?
Phenols disappear at almost every stage between malt and bottle: during milling, mashing, fermentation, in the cut the distiller makes and during maturation.
In the mash part of it stays behind in the spent grain. Phenols are heavy molecules that only come over late in the distillation, so the moment at which the distiller ends the heart cut determines how many go along. In the cask they evaporate, are absorbed by the wood or change form.
How much is left per distillery is not recorded on the label and differs depending on the set-up of the installation.
Why does a high ppm number say little about the taste?
Two whiskies from the same malt can turn out very differently, because fermentation, still shape and cut points differ per distillery.
Whisky writer Dave Broom points that out on Scotchwhisky.com: the same ppm value in the malt leads at two houses to a different impression of smoke. The smoke is also carried by several phenolic compounds, each with a different character.
A ppm figure is therefore usable as a production datum, but not as a ranking.
Is ppm mentioned anywhere in the law?
No, the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 contain no standard for ppm; those rules deal with maturation, casks, place of maturation and alcoholic strength.
Scotch must mature for at least three years in oak casks of at most 700 litres, in Scotland, and be bottled at a minimum of 40 percent. Regulation (EU) 2019/787 sets the same maturation and strength requirements for whisky in the European Union. Nothing is said about peat, smoke or phenols.
A ppm statement on a label is therefore a statement by the producer and not a legal concept.
From the shop in Bathmen
Which Islay whiskies are available in Bathmen?
The shop in Bathmen stocks 478 whiskies from 59 different brands. Prices range from € 15.99 to € 6,799.00. The alcohol percentage ranges from 40% to 65.8%.
- AD RATTRAY WILLIAMSON 12 Years Old 56.4% · 70 cl · Scotland
- AD RATTRAY WILLIAMSON 14 Years Old 53.8% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Adelphi Limited Ardbeg 14Y 2004 #700171 60.7% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Adelphi Selection Caol Ila 10 Years Old 2014 #325994 56.2% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Adelphi Selection Caol Ila 10 Years Old 2014 #326040 54.9% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Adelphi Selection Caol Ila 11 Years Old 2014 #326026 57.2% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Adelphi Selection Lochranza 11 Years Old 2014 #1468 57.6% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Adelphi's Islay 10 Years Old 46% · 70 cl · Scotland
- Ardbeg 10 Years Old 46% · 70 cl · Scotland
- ARDBEG 17 Years Old 40% · Scotland
Related questions
What does straight mean on a whisky bottle?What does triple distilled mean?What does the Scotch Whisky Association do?
Short answer
Short answers to related questions
- Does more ppm mean smokier?
- Not necessarily. The number refers to the malt; how much phenol the bottle ends up with depends on mashing, fermentation, the cut during distillation and maturation.
- How many ppm does unpeated whisky have?
- Unpeated malt is dried without peat smoke, so no peat phenols are added. For such batches no ppm value is therefore stated either.
- Where do the phenols in whisky come from?
- From the smoke of burning peat, which settles on the barley grain while the wet malt is being dried.
- Does ppm have to be on the label?
- No. Neither the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 nor Regulation (EU) 2019/787 requires a phenol value on the label.
The reasoning
Sources
- The truth about peated whisky and phenols, Scotchwhisky.com (accessed 2026-09-05)
- Phenol fables: peat's secrets uncovered, Scotchwhisky.com (accessed 2026-09-05)
- The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, regulation 3, legislation.gov.uk (accessed 2026-09-05)
- Sources of Volatile Aromatic Congeners in Whiskey, Beverages 9(3), 64, MDPI (accessed 5 September 2026)
- Verordening (EU) 2019/787, bijlage I, categorie 2 (whisky of whiskey), EUR-Lex, European Union (accessed 2026-09-05)
This page was written and checked by ’t Bockje Bathmen, wine and spirits shop at Brink 2 in Bathmen. Last updated on 7 September 2026.
Verkoop van alcohol onder de 18 jaar is verboden. NIX18.