Late distillery manager Willie Meikle (82) was ‘a whisky man down to his last atom’
Former distillery manager of Singleton of Glen Ord, William ‘Willie’ Meikle (82) from Muir of Ord died on July 4, 2024. Ahead of his funeral, taking place on July 17 at Inverness Crematorium at 2pm, whisky writer Jim Murray shares a personal tribute.
For 15 years during the 1970s and ‘80s I had traipsed around Scotland learning all I could from the dozens of then tourist-free distilleries I quietly visited, a human sponge absorbing as much about whisky-making from as many people — from those who worked the floor maltings to distillery managers and blenders — as was possible.
And I thought I knew a fair bit… until in about 1990 when I first met Willie Meikle. This was the time before whisky became showbiz. And Willie Meikle had one interest: not in getting his photo in magazines, not to be wheeled out as master this or master that at some whisky show (which in those days didn’t exist). There was no ego with Willie: his single interest was in making very good whisky. And he was drawn to fellow whisky men (there were very few women then) like a moth to a flame…as was I. If he wasn’t making whisky, then he wanted to talk about making whisky. At length…and in minute detail. There wasn’t a single facet of the whisky-making process that Willie had not got his hands dirty in at some stage…and was not prepared to do so again if required. It was in those discussions it dawned on me just how much more I still had to learn…and that that education would probably never end.
At his distillery, Glen Ord, Willie would watch the goings on like Alex Ferguson running the rule over his players during training at nearby Aberdeen: the astute, critical eye of a perfectionist missing nothing. Observe closely enough and you could actually see his eyes darting, his head ticking… but in his swelling heart an unsaid pride.
And it was this attention to detail, this uncompromising professionalism, that so impressed me about Willie and perhaps set him apart from the vast majority of the other old school distillery managers I had learned from. There was also, on top of this, his unwavering kindness, patience and good humour. But I was particularly indebted to him for correcting me of any errors that had crept into my own knowledge or misconceptions I may have allowed to carry previously unchecked. He treated me as he did his distillery, which was an extraordinary honour.
Thorough, was Willie Meikle. A whisky man down to his very last atom.
Margaret Thatcher once famously said of her right-hand man Willie Whitelaw that “Every Prime Minister needs a Willie.”
Well, there hasn’t been a malt distillery built in Scotland yet that didn’t need a Willie… a Willie Meikle.