Review #862 - Meikle Toir 'The Sherry One'
Historically (well, since their founding in 1967), the GlenAllachie distillery has produced unpeated, middle-of-the-road single malt that was primarily used as a component for blended whiskies. That all changed in 2017, when the distillery was purchased by Billy Walker, known for his excellent ability for blending and finishing whiskies in different cask types. Once he and his partners had control of the distillery's stocks, they moved much of the existing whisky to finishing casks, especially sherry casks, creating modern classics such as the GlenAllachie 12 Year.
Around the same time that the distillery team was re-racking the old distillate into new casks, they also began distilling a new type of spirit in the style that Billy Walker desired. This is a peated Speyside distillate, a little uncommon but not unheard of; they peat the spirit to a level of 35 parts per million of phenol content, which would put this in the 'heavily peated' category. To differentiate this whisky from the unpeated version of GlenAllachie spirit, they brand the peated version as Meikle Toir.
As the peated production commenced in 2018, we now have fully-aged peated whisky available from the distillery. Here's a sherry cask version aged for 5 years: they call it 'The Sherry One,' and it's bottled at a strength of 48% ABV. The initial maturation uses ex-bourbon barrels, but this is then finished in Oloroso and PX sherry casks. Like all of the modern iterations of GlenAllachie whisky, this is not chill filtered, and it contains no added caramel color.
Meikle Toir 'The Sherry One'
Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt
Price: USD 79 (2026)
Age Statement: 5 Years
Strength: 48% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon, finished in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks
Details: No chill filtered, no color added
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 5 months; bottles at 80%, 70%, and 50% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: The peat has a medium strength, and it's tarry, and we get some charcoal as well. It's spirity, but in a nice way, and we get bright fruits of cranberry, strawberry, and oranges. There's a subtle malty character and a fizzy texture; time brings slate and a subtle stewed fruit element.
Palate: The mouthfeel has a medium thickness. There's a decent amount of peat now, along with other sharp notes of grilled jalapeno, orange peel, and charcoal or charred wood. Bright sweet fruits build behind that: strawberries again, orange juice, orange soda, lemon-lime soda. It's both sweet and sharp, and the texture includes a fizzy sensation.
Finish: Fizzy and effervescent, a bit malty, with lots of tangy orange. The peat lingers but grows a bit more subtle; vanilla, charcoal, and wood smoke linger in the aftertaste. This has a medium length finish.
Final Note: For a single malt aged a mere 5 years, this Meikle Toir has decent refinement and a nice spirit character. It doesn't taste overtly young, but it is quite distillate-forward at times, and the experience is bright overall. Light, sweet fruits of strawberry and orange permeated each tasting session, and while the peat smoke influence is medium to strong, it doesn't quite reach the level of some heavily peated competitors like Laphroaig or Ardbeg. This is a decent single malt, and we're excited to see how this spirit develops with a few more years of aging.
Value for this bottle is just about average in our books. Like a lot of newer releases, this whisky isn't exactly cheap at $79 (especially for a 5 year old whisky), but that's hardly considered a premium price point in today's Scotch single malt market. This is a pleasant whisky which will appeal to those peat+sherry fans, and we think it's a decent option.
Our Rating: 6.5 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.06
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
