Compass Box Spice Tree

Let's forget the marketing blah-blah from Diageo for a moment - Mortlach is actually a damn good distillery. The unusual 2.81-fold distillation usually turns boring Speyside fare into complex, meaty whiskies. The "Beast of Dufftown" deserves respect. But with the Midnight Dusk, someone obviously forgot to pass this memo on.

The Swiss from Freespirited have proclaimed the "Cheers Revolution" with their 0.0% Malt Blend, an initiative for alcohol-free alternatives to popular spirits, ideal for festive occasions when the desire for alcohol is lacking. This cutting-edge concept pursues absolute individual freedom in beverage selection. The noble aim of creating an alcohol-free option for "whisky-based long drinks" is intriguing, even though it's not a whisky but rather an innovative alternative with malt distillate.

Kavalan Triple Sherry Cask (2021) positions itself as a link between the standard bottlings and the single cask bottlings of the Taiwanese distillery. Matured in Oloroso, Pedro Ximénez, and Moscatel sherry casks, this single malt clearly focuses on a rich, sherry-driven profile. The design also points to its origin: the silver lines under the cork represent the mountain ranges around the distillery, while the water filtered through volcanic rock used forms the background of this bottling.

Falken 5 Years (2022) is a German single malt from Farny Destillerie with 43% ABV, whose profile is strongly shaped by the idea of a “lager finish”: six months of alpine summering on the Falkenalpe are intended to bring topography and climate into the cask and ultimately into the glass. It matures for a total of five years in the distillery's casks and presents itself as a rather mild, unexcited representative with a regional mountain backdrop in tow – whether that is great alpine air or rather alpine marketing is something the glass may answer.