JACK AND THE MAGIC BEANSTALK – Score: 7/10
Every distillery has a first word, and this is Strathearn’s. Tucked away in a converted farm steading near Methven in Perthshire, Strathearn was founded in 2013 as one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland, running tiny copper pot stills that look more like a craftsman’s alembic than the gleaming giants of Speyside. The Inaugural Release is the very first single malt to leave the place, and it tastes like exactly that: a young spirit with something to prove and nobody to imitate.
The nose is all field and granary — warm cereals, malted barley husk and a fine, dry, almost powdery dustiness, like flour drifting through a sunbeam in an old mill. Then comes the surprise that gives this review its title: a distinctly green, vegetal note of beans. Not the baked kind on toast, but fresh pods, snapped open in the garden. Plant one of these and who knows how high it might grow.
On the palate the texture is the real story. It is oily and mouth-coating, the kind of weight small stills and slow distillation tend to give, carrying the grainy sweetness along with ease. The powdery, chalky edge returns mid-palate and dries things out nicely, while the finish stays on cereal and a faint nuttiness, medium in length and honest to the last drop.
Is it a giant? Not yet. It is young, a little rustic, and wears its newness openly. But there is character here, real texture and a clear sense of place — a very promising first beanstalk. We will happily keep climbing to see what grows at the top.
