New 2024 Meikle Tòir Turbo

10 Jul

Award-winning Speyside peated single malt brand reveals this year’s edition of sought-after limited release.

Independent Scotch whisky producer The GlenAllachie Distillers Company issues peated single malt brand Meikle Tòir’s annual limited release: The Turbo 2024 Edition.

The new label, launched in September 2023, features Scotch whisky produced at independent distillery The GlenAllachie in Speyside.

With veteran whisky maker Billy Walker at the helm since 2017, the distillery introduced annual peated productions of approximately six weeks starting the following year.

The annual outturn of peated new make spirit amounts to around 100,000 Litres of Alcohol (LOA): roughly a tenth of the distillery’s total output.

Since its launch, Meikle Tòir has scooped exceptional accolades, including 93 points for The Turbo 2023 Edition (IWSC, 2024). Judges commented that the “palate is a delight of peach and fruity notes, balanced by a zesty finish”.

Following extraordinary demand for its previous iteration, The Turbo 2024 Edition (50% ABV, UK RRSP £55.99) is a marriage of five American virgin oak casks and four Oloroso hogsheads, producing just 2,200 bottles.

The product name, coined by Walker, is intended to reflect the intense smoke character achieved by capturing the spirit cut with the highest phenol level during distillation.

The phenolic content of the spirit at the point of bottling was an impressive 70 Parts per Million (PPM), balanced with “waves of toasted nuts, salted caramel and dark chocolate truffles” delivered by five years in the rich casks.

To create Meikle Tòir, The GlenAllachie used mainland peat from St. Fergus to contribute a sweeter smoke flavour in comparison to island peat.

The whisky also underwent an extended fermentation period of 160 hours—part of Walker’s adaptations implemented when he took ownership—to develop a complex and flavourful distillate rich in esters.

All Meikle Tòir products are proudly presented with a five-year age statement, without added colouring and non-chill filtered.

Additionally, the brand’s packaging, which features a hand-drawn illustration by Scottish artist Iain McIntosh, is sourced exclusively from UK-based suppliers to reduce its carbon footprint.

The peated label’s core range consists of three other products: The Original, The Sherry One and The Chinquapin One.

Remarking on the new release, Walker comments:

“We have been thrilled at the reception of Meikle Tòir among the whisky community and beyond over the last ten months. For the team and I, it was essential to begin a peated campaign when we took over the reins at The GlenAllachie and use mainland peat to complement the spirit’s heather honey DNA.
“The Turbo, by its nature, is incredibly limited, but if you can get your hands on it, it’s an opportunity not to be missed. The 2024 Edition is a very moreish dram packed full of sweet campfire smoke alongside dried fruit and chocolate tones.”

Meikle Tòir The Turbo 2024 Edition will become increasingly available worldwide from today, with a UK RRSP of £55.99.

ABOUT MEIKLE TÒIR:

Guided by revered Master Distiller, Billy Walker, our team is on a ‘Meikle Tòir’ (meaning ‘big pursuit’). The goal: to carefully craft and cask-perfect a peerless peated single malt at our Speyside home, The GlenAllachie Distillery.

Being independent, we have complete freedom to do things our way. Every step of the whisky-making journey has been meticulously considered and masterfully optimised to steer the ensuing aromatic and flavour characteristics of the whisky.

Using premium mainland peat for an oaky, sweet smoke style; a process of extended fermentation, exacting distillation and expert maturation elevates the spirit to its pinnacle. After years of patient slumber, the spirit within each cask must meet Billy’s rigorous standards to reach the bottle.

Where pioneering passion and painstaking precision are paramount. All in the pursuit of peated perfection.

TASTING NOTES

Nose: Smoked blood orange, cinnamon spice and manuka honey, with bursts of rich dark chocolate and roasted hazelnuts.
Taste: Worn leather, baking spices and cigar box, followed by honey, hazelnuts and dried red berries, with burnt orange peel and salted caramel.