Strathearn is one of Scotland's tiniest distilleries, started in 2013 by Tony Reeman-Clark, David Lang and David Wight near Methven, in Highland Perthshire.1,2,3 The independent bottler Douglas Laing bought it in October 2019, its first distillery.1,2,4
An earlier distillery, founded by William White in 1798, once stood on the site and later fell out of use.1 In 2013 work was under way to turn a 160-year-old farm steading at Bachilton Farm into the new distillery.1,2,3 looked at investing that year, Cara Laing recalls, but nothing came of it.
In its early years the plant made only tiny volumes of spirit but took a highly experimental approach, ageing some spirit in woods such as mulberry and chestnut.3,4,6 Its whisky used both peated and unpeated malt and small 50-litre casks.3,4,6 Tony Reeman-Clark left in July 2019, and ownership passed to director Thomas James Burke.4
Cara Laing says the owner approached the firm in mid-2019; after the 23 October sale, the gin and rum brands went to The Whisky Garden, controlled by Burke.1,2,4 By December 2020 Douglas Laing was investing heavily in new equipment, which went on to double the plant's capacity.5,7,8 The work went on to add an enclosed mash tun, where malt meets water, a new boiler, four more washbacks and a second wash still matching the original 1,000-litre pair.5,7,8
It distils in alembic stills made by the firm Hoga, and has a single spirit still.1,2 A steam boiler heats the stills, and shell and tube condensers turn the vapour back into spirit.2 Fermentation runs in 8 stainless steel washbacks, the tanks where sugary water from the mash becomes a beer-like wash.2,7 Fermentation now lasts 144 hours.7,8,9 Lead distiller Angela Brown says the long fermentations make for a very fruity spirit.7,8 Its malt comes from the supplier Muntons, and its water from nearby Loch Turret.1,2
11 sources. Something wrong? Report it from the menu at the top of the page.