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The GlenAllachie Distillery in Scotland has legendary grasp distiller Billy Walker at its helm, who took it over from earlier possession in 2017 alongside some companions. Situated on the foot of Ben Rinnes within the coronary heart of Speyside, considered one of Walker’s early targets was to develop a peated whisky for GlenAllachie. To this finish, in 2018, his staff laid down the primary casks of what, 5 years later, has turn into generally known as the brand new Meikle Tòir (that means Massive Pursuit) lineup.
As a part of this peated whisky focus, Walker used mainland peat from St. Fergus versus the extra well-known Islay peat. Mainland peat, fashioned from the breakdown of bushes versus herbs and seaweed frequent to Islay, creates what he describes as “a a lot sweeter smoke type.” GlenAllachie is producing solely 100,000 liters of this alcohol yearly throughout simply six weeks annually.
Moreover, all Meikle Tòir expressions are subjected to a prolonged fermentation time of 160 hours – almost triple the trade common – which the Walker feels “provides a fruity, ester-rich character to the following whisky.”
“Each factor of the manufacturing course of was fastidiously thought-about to make sure our imaginative and prescient was met,” stated Walker on the time of this whisky’s launch. “It’s not about accelerating the journey; it’s about increasing the expertise. One of many key selections was to considerably prolong the fermentation interval to 160 hours, creating thick, ester-rich distillate. One other was to make use of mainland peat, which delivers a extra oaky type of smoke. These selections, together with the usage of high quality oak casks, are all elements steering us in our pursuit of peated perfection.”
The whisky I’m reviewing right this moment, Meikle Tòir The Chinquapin One, is considered one of 4 making up this model’s core lineup. Aged for 5 years in American oak ex-Bourbon barrels, adopted by Chinquapin virgin oak barrels, this peated Scotch has a 48% ABV and a peat ranking of 35 ppm. It’s of pure shade and is non-chill filtered, priced at $75.
