
Distillery: Eimverk
Country: Iceland
Age: 3 years old
abv: 47%
Gordon Ramsey recently caused a bit of a stir shovelling sheep shit on an episode of his show Uncharted. Sure enough, a celebrity chef and excrement are an unusual combination, unless we count the stuff coming out of Gordon’s mouth. The particular poop being shovelled was meant for production of Wholly Shit whisky, distilled in Tasmania. And while the use of sheep dung is sure to grab attention, it’s not necessarily a gimmick. Icelandic distillers Eimverk have been using sheep dung for years now, and to them it’s second nature. Although peat is traditionally the fuel of choice for drying barley, peat simply doesn’t form in Iceland’s austere landscape. In looking for an alternative, Eimverk needed to look no further than their local cuisine, where it’s very normal to smoke foods using sheep dung. I’ve tried Arctic char and lamb smoked this way, and although distinctive, it was an excellent meal. That’s not to say I will be collecting faeces for my next smoking session on the grill, but I am happy that Eimverk decided not to import peat from Scotland. It’s the sustainable choice too: while peat bogs can take centuries to regrow, sheep produce dung on a daily basis. How’s that for a renewable resource!
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