Hi, we're Vasil and Sophie

We're a married couple from Tbilisi, Georgia, together for more than 25 years and chasing great peated Scotch for the last 10 years. Peat Finder is our side project, built for fun and for anyone who loves smoke in their glass.

Vasil's story

My whisky story began a couple of decades ago, mostly with blends and bourbon. Then a friend poured me a Glenmorangie Nectar d'Òr, and everything changed. It was deeper, richer, a whisky to sip and savour rather than knock back. Soon after, I joined a local whisky club, the Whisky Lovers' Club (ვისკის მოყვარულთა კლუბი), and started a journey I'm still on, and plan to stay on for the rest of my life. At the club I went down every rabbit hole: sherry bombs, cask strength, and nosing drams side by side from Glencairn and copita glasses.

Just when I thought I'd become the "whisky expert", my ship of knowledge capsized and I washed up on an island called Islay. And that was it. Peated whisky became my love and my obsession. The first bottle that made me fall for peat was Lagavulin 16, and I still have a soft spot for it today. (I haven't set foot on Islay yet, but that trip is planned for next year.)

These days I spend as much time hunting for the next great peated bottle at a fair price as I do drinking them, which is how Peat Finder started.

Sophie's story

My whisky journey began with a little persuasion from my husband. Already deeply in love with whisky, he wanted me to share the fascination, so, almost reluctantly, I began exploring, one dram at a time.

I started with unpeated whiskies, whose sweet, dessert-like character still reminds me of cakes and confectionery. Then came Lagavulin 16, an entirely different experience that opened the door to a world I never expected to love. Soon I was exploring Ardbeg releases, and somewhere along the way peat found a special place in my heart.

But for me, peat is about much more than flavour. Its smoke takes me back to the kitchen of my grandparents' village house: a wooden building with an earthen floor, walnut furniture and an open hearth that was almost always burning. Sulguni cheese, peppers, corn and persimmons hung from the heavy ceiling beams, slowly soaking up the smoke, and everything carried that scent of woodsmoke and damp earth.

That scent brings my grandfather back to me. Whenever I find a peated whisky I really love, I smile and say, "This one tastes like my grandfather." By now my friends hand me a new smoky dram and ask, "So, does this one taste like your grandfather too?" It has become our little whisky joke, but behind it is something deeply personal.

My husband may have introduced me to whisky, but peat made it personal.

Why we built Peat Finder

By day we're both finance professionals, so comparing numbers is second nature. We kept noticing the same thing: a "sale" price often isn't a deal at all, and real bargains on peated Scotch are scattered across dozens of shops in different countries.

So we check. Twice a week we look through over 1,000 shop listings in the UK, EU and US, compare each price with what other shops charge for the same bottle, and only list the ones with a real discount. If a discount isn't real, it doesn't make the page.

Meet us

Part of the whisky community

We're regulars at whisky festivals at home and abroad, from Tbilisi's and Batumi's whisky festivals to Whisky Messe Austria in Leobersdorf and Graz, and proud supporters of the whisky scene in Georgia. Vasil was the first person to receive the Cavalier Honour of Tbilisi's Whisky Festival, and Sophie has been awarded it too.

How we pick deals, and how we keep the lights on

We take picking deals seriously. Every price is checked against other trusted shops, and only real discounts make the list. If we ever earn a small commission from a link, it will never change which shop we show. Full details: How we pick deals

Say hello

Spotted a great deal, a mistake, or just want to talk peat? Write to us at hello@peatfinder.com or find us on X, Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram and Threads.