Mortlach Distillery have revealed a trio of new spirits as part of L’Evolution Collection, the first expressions to be released in collaboration with creative director Philippe Starck.
French industrial architect and designer Starck was appointed to the role in December last year and has been incredibly hands-on with the project. Not only has he designed the packaging for the collection, he’s worked alongside master blender Dr Craig Wilson and had an input in the whisky used.
Three unique spirits - Begin, Become and Beyond - have been selected to tell the story of Mortlach’s distillery character, from its origin to its full maturity.
Starck was also keen to celebrate the Diageo-owned distillery’s pioneering heritage: “Mortlach is the result of a scientific genius, Alexander Cowie. Since its creation, the brand has been inventing and exploring new territories, crafting whiskies that are incredibly rich without any gimmicks or anything superfluous. The story of Mortlach’s evolution takes a leap forward into modernity, with the elegance of nature and the magic of science at the service of humanity.”
There’s a touch of irony to Starck mentioning Mortlach’s history of not needing any gimmicks, since one of the central elements of L’Evolution Collection is a gimmicky presentation. Each of the three expressions comes in a unique 3D printed cage designed to replicate the gyri - or, to you and I, the ridges on the human brain.
Starck explains that “the form of the cage comes from the gyrus, the circumvolution of the brain. It is human intelligence creating human intelligence to reveal the subconscious of the whisky. Yet, this is not an additional decorative element. The case is technically interesting because it creates a permanent shadow that protects the spirit, and when in metal, it ensures temperature inertia – whether it is cold or warm, it guarantees a delay on temperature change.”
The idea of a cage providing some environmental protection for the whisky is a nice touch, however the idea of the cage’s design mirroring the idea of human intelligence feels a tad hyperbolic.
Indeed, Starck concedes “this is pure semantics: we created the most beautiful whisky, and we put it in a cage to protect it.”
The cages for each of the releases are unique and are said to reflect that spirit’s identity. Begin is housed in an aluminium case, Beyond comes in a refined pink copper, while Become is presented with a soft-to-touch organic design.
As is often the question with such fancy-packaged collections, we find ourselves asking “what about the whisky?”. Attentive readers might haven noticed how we were tripping up over ourselves earlier to not refer to L’Evolution Collection as three ‘whiskies’, rather ’spirits’ or ‘expressions’, because it turns out one of the releases isn’t actually whisky at all.
Begin is a 20cl bottle of new make spirit (Barley Spirit as Mortlach are referring to it), offering drinkers a rare opportunity to taste Mortlach’s distillery character in its rawest form. This expression is paired with the Beyond release.
Beyond, as the name suggests, takes us on a journey from the new, young spirit and into the realm of well-aged whisky. It is crafted from a marriage of different whiskies drawn from casks that were filled across five different decades.
Starck suggests that “Beyond is a love at first tongue, an instant crush, an immediate certainty that you are drinking a piece of history. It is dark like an obscure dawn with a light, a fire inside, like lava under the ground.” Unusual tasting notes for sure, but we’re sure it’s very good.
The Begin and Beyond pairing has a suggested retail price of £10,000. We’ll give the team behind these releases some credit, in that it is unusual for a whisky this gimmicky to be designed to be opened and consumed, especially when it comes with a five-figure price tag.
Finally, Become stands on its own as, in Starck’s words, “an intelligent and elegant, monolithic and happy single malt, and a rebellious spirit heading out to the world emboldened with a thunderous heartbeat.” Roughly translated, Become has been matured in a combination of virgin oak, red wine, and refill casks and showcases notes of sultanas and dates before a long, peppery finish. Become also comes with an expected retail price of £310.
Each of the three spirits in the collection are bottled at a punchy 55.4%ABV. While Begin comes in a smaller bottle, both Become and Beyond are presented in the standard 70cl format.
Speaking on the collaboration, Dr Wilson said “creating this collection with Philippe Starck was inspiring and unforgettable. His visionary approach perfectly complements Mortlach’s legacy for crafting uncompromising and complex whiskies, leveraging our unique 2.81 distilling process. The spirits themselves are exceptional, showcasing the depth and character for which Mortlach is admired around the world.”
It’s easy to be flippant about new releases that have ridiculous packaging and make boastful claims about intelligence and humanity. But Mortlach’s legacy speaks for itself: their whisky has enjoyed long standing reputation as a blender’s favourite; it is a coveted single malt among drinkers and collectors; and its recent transition (or evolution) into the world of premium Scotch is a proven success. The brand wouldn’t be where it is if the whisky itself wasn’t world class.
Starck himself points out that the with this collaboration the whisky came first, stating that “everything started from the liquid.” So we’re confident that the spirit in L’Evolution Collection will live up to all the stage-dressing and hyperbole.
