PricesData study
Peat level vs priceppm against UK shelf prices
Above 80 ppm, every in-stock bottle with a stated figure was an Octomore at £122 or more; from 20 to 78 ppm, the median was £58 and the price did not rise with the peating (14 October 2026).
£58 median price from 20 to 78 ppm, with no rise for heavier peating; above 80 ppm, only Octomore at £122 or more
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The higher the ppm, the more phenols were in the malted barley before distilling. Each dot is a peated whisky in stock at its lowest price, placed by the ppm stated for it. Turn on the distillery specifications to see where Ardbeg, Laphroaig and others would sit, kept apart because no figure is stated for those bottles.
- Only 22 of the 99 peated 70cl bottles in stock have a ppm stated for the bottle or its range: 16 by the producer, 5 by a UK retailer and 1 in the trade press. We don’t estimate the rest.
- Torabhaig’s 78.4 ppm Cnoc na Mòine (£58) cost less than Kilchoman Loch Gorm at 50 ppm (£89.95). Torabhaig also states the drop: Allt Gleann is 77 ppm in the malt and 17 ppm in the glass.
- For 47 bottles from Ardbeg, Bowmore, Lagavulin, Laphroaig and Talisker we only hold the distillery’s usual specification, and the sources disagree: 36 ppm for Lagavulin in our records, 40 on Whiskipedia.
Source: Uisge Beatha: in-stock shelf prices at the UK retailers we check, 14 October 2026. Updated 23 October 2026. Free to reuse with a link to this page.
About this data: method, downloads and sources
How we did it
Bottles. Every confirmed, in-stock 70cl bottle tagged peated, heavily peated or lightly peated at the UK retailers we check on 14 October 2026: 99 bottles from 5 retailers with 4 owners (Loch Fyne Whiskies and The Whisky Shop share an owner). Most peat tags come from the distillery’s usual style rather than the label (see how we tag peat). The price is each bottle’s lowest in-stock shelf price.
Stated ppm. A figure counts only if it is stated for that bottle, or for the whole range it belongs to (Port Charlotte: “peated to a heavyweight 40PPM”), by the producer, a UK retailer or the trade press. We read each source on 23 October 2026 and keep the URL and the exact sentence in the CSV. Forum posts, reviews and unsourced lists are not used. A range (Ledaig 10, 30–40 ppm) is plotted at its midpoint with a line across the range; a minimum (“78+ ppm”) is plotted at the minimum with an arrow. 77 bottles have no stated figure, and we do not estimate one.
House specifications. For five distilleries our distillery records give the usual malt specification, transcribed from a printed distillery reference. It describes current production, not a particular bottle, and older bottles were distilled years earlier, so these bottles are shown only when you ask, as hollow rings, and never counted with the stated figures. Whiskipedia’s single figures fall outside our records’ range for three of the five (Bowmore, Lagavulin, Laphroaig); both are in the table.
What ppm measures. ppm is phenol parts per million in the malted barley before mashing. Whiskipedia puts the loss during production at 40 to 80% of the phenols in the barley, with more lost in the cask. So ppm is a production figure, not a measure of how smoky the whisky tastes, and certainly not of quality.
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Sources
- Uisge Beatha: in-stock shelf prices at the UK retailers we check, 14 October 2026
- Whiskipedia: phenols (ppm, losses in production, distillery figures), read 23 October 2026
- Bruichladdich: Octomore 15.1, 15.2, 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, Port Charlotte 10 and Islay Barley 2014 product pages, read 23 October 2026
- Torabhaig: Allt Gleann, Cnoc na Mòine and Sound of Sleat product pages (in-grain and in-glass phenols), read 23 October 2026
- Kilchoman: Sanaig, Loch Gorm 2024 and Rockside Farm 11 specifications, read 23 October 2026
- Glasgow Distillery: 1770 Peated, read 23 October 2026
- Retailer and press statements (Abbey Whisky, Hooky, Milroy's, Caviste, The Whiskey Wash): each linked in the table and CSV
- Earlier ppm lists without sources or prices: Whisky Advocate (2019) and Drinkhacker (2017)
Prices are the shelf prices we recorded at UK retailers on the dates shown and change daily. Uisge Beatha compares prices; it does not sell whisky or give investment advice. Please enjoy whisky responsibly: drinkaware.co.uk.