Strathearn Distillery joined the Douglas Laing family in October 2019 and, in-line with our approach, this Small Batch bottling is offered proudly at 46.6% alcohol strength, without colouring or chill-filtration. Despite being distilled in 2013 and 2014, this is a surprisingly mature Single Malt having spent its life in the finest European oak and ex-Sherry casks. Anticipate a soft and mellow style developing to rich red fruits and subtle sweetness from those Sherry casks.
Cara Laing: We believe Batch 001 is an amazing representation of how unimportant age can be in whisky terms, but how significant good wood is! It’s a beautiful big, bold spirit.
Zak: Our fermentation is very long at 4.5 days (approx. 108 hours), the industry standard being around 58 hours. Having this longer fermentation gives the yeast a chance to absorb some of the off-flavours created in fermentation. And it allows the yeast to settle below the up stand in the fermenter after fermentation has been completed. We do not transfer the yeast into the wash still as it is full of unwanted flavour. So the yeast is left behind and discarded.
Maturation of Batch 001 took place in virgin European oak and 1st fill oloroso sherry casks. We used smaller casks than the industry norm as they give more in terms of impactful flavour and colour in a shorter period of time. Virgin European oak is fairly unusual in the Scotch industry. It gives a tanic red berry quality to the whisky as well as a large amount of oak. The sherry wood is used to add balance with a bit of sweetness, and also to further support the red berry dynamic.
