Mortlach (Diageo Special Releases 2022), 57.8%

Something’s cooking! Ground beef, red wine, and plum tomatoes initially, with rose hip, red currant, fragrant spices, culinary foam, and Tabasco on the nose. Vinous and fruity to drink, with mouth-drawing tannins, the Mortlach meatiness combines with a peak of spices, followed by savory notes of roasted vegetables and spicy peppered beef. Water salvages some fruit sweetness, but this one’s a handful. £250