To start a heated debate with a whisky fan, take a murkily-defined whisky concept, issue a strong statement on the matter, and the fireworks will kick off. These days, ‘terroir’ is one of those words going around that divides opinion.
Drawn from the French and mostly applied to wine, terroir refers to environmental conditions for growing grapes that affect what that wine tastes like. Often, the idea of terroir incorporates a wider element. In the whisky world, the term emerged a few years ago, and it won’t go away any time soon. However, identifying what it means in a whisky context is tricky, with producers applying differing and sometimes contradictory definitions.