London, England
Crafted by Philippe Starck, the Mortlach L’Evolution Collection is an innovative and artistic release that highlights the rich heritage of Mortlach, a distillery known for its bold and complex whiskies.
The collection, priced at a high-end level, includes three distinct single malts: Begin, Become, and Beyond.
Each represents different stages of a whisky’s journey, from its creation to its full maturation.
“The evolution story of Mortlach takes a leap forward into modernity, with the elegance of nature and the magic of science,” states Philippe Starck.
“Through this collaboration, I wanted to speak to the next generation, using a universal language about quality, intelligence and modernity. I wanted to create a completely new experience but with a dream beyond. It is a deep love at first sight – the feeling of drinking history.”
Starck worked alongside the distillery’s master blender, Dr Craig Wilson, to create three spirits that together form the Mortlach L’Evolutioncollection and tell the story of a whisky’s journey from its origin and maturity through its prime.
The liquids at the essence of the Mortlach L’Evolution collection are protected by innovative and durable 3D-printed cages resembling the brain’s “gyri,” or ridges.
Each spirit is given a different material and colour to reveal its identity, “the subconscious of the whisky.”
Begin is presented with an aluminium case, Beyond in refined pink copper, and Become with an organic design with a soft-to-touch finish.
Starck shared: “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.”
The designer describes the whisky as “an intelligent and elegant, monolithic and happy single malt, and a rebellious spirit heading out to the world emboldened with a thunderous heartbeat.”
At the crossroads of traditional savoir-faire and avant-garde intelligence, with humanity always at the heart, MORTLACH x STARCK is inspired by the story of our evolution.
“This is pure semantics: we created the most beautiful whisky, and we put it in a cage to protect it. Everything in my work has a meaning and a reason to exist,” concludes Starck.
Project: MORTLACH x STARCK L’Evolution Collection
Designers: Philippe Starck
Client: Diageo plc.
Photographs: Courtesy of Diageo