Twenty-five 2 cl bottles, twenty-five days, ten countries. There is no chocolate behind these doors but a journey through the whisky world: from Islay to Taiwan, from a Japanese grain to a Welsh single malt. For me this is the finest December gift there is — small pours teach you more than one big bottle ever will.

The selection puts big names like The Dalmore, Nikka and Kavalan next to distilleries that live on character: Kilchoman, Armorik, Penderyn, Compass Box. Scotland supplies eight bottles, but you'll also find Ireland, the United States, Japan, France, India, Taiwan, Wales, Australia and China. Strengths run from 40% to 50%, styles from soft and fruity to firmly peated. Every bottle comes with an online masterclass you open with a QR code.

The box is a gift in itself: a papercut landscape in purple and gold with two stills, ears of wheat, a stag and a thistle, and along the edge Le Monde des Whiskies — Académie V, the fifth edition in the series. Open the lid and the inside carries a text per region — United States, Asia, Australia — listing which bottles come from there. No booklet to hunt for: the explanation is in the box.

The twenty-five whiskies

• Amrut Fusion — India, single malt, 50%
• Armorik Double Maturation Bio — France, single malt, 46%
• Arran 10 Years — Scotland, single malt, 46%
• Big Peat 12 Years — Scotland, blended malt, 46%
• Compass Box Orchard House — Scotland, blended malt, 46%
• Dalmore Port Wood Reserve — Scotland, single malt, 46.5%
• Dingle Single Malt — Ireland, single malt, 46.5%
• Eddu Silver — France, buckwheat whisky, 43%
• Jura 12 Years Sherry Cask Oloroso — Scotland, single malt, 46%
• Kavalan Classic Single Malt — Taiwan, single malt, 40%
• Kilchoman Sanaig — Scotland, single malt, 46%
• La Piautre Single Malt — France, single malt, 44.5%
• Laizhou Finest Select — China, single malt, 40%
• Michter's US 1 Bourbon — United States, bourbon, 45.7%
• Nikka Coffey Grain — Japan, grain whisky, 45%
• Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt — Japan, blended malt, 43%
• Ninkasi Whisky Inspiration — France, single malt, 46%
• Old Bardstown Bourbon — United States, bourbon, 45%
• Old Pulteney Huddart — Scotland, single malt, 46%
• Penderyn Myth — Wales, single malt, 40%
• Starward Left-Field — Australia, single malt, 40%
• Templeton 6 Years Rye — United States, rye, 45.75%
• The Busker Premium Single Pot — Ireland, single pot still, 44.3%
• The Cairn 12 Years CRN57° — Scotland, blended malt, 43%
• Yoichi Single Malt — Japan, single malt, 45%

How I'd drink it

Two centilitres is exactly one tasting pour. Use a tulip glass, let it sit for five minutes and smell before you sip. A few drops of water will open up a powerful malt; on the 40% bottles you're better off without. Keep a notebook beside you — after twenty-five days you'll know in writing which style is yours.

What to do with it

Got it as a gift and not sure where to start? Don't sort the bottles by strength, just follow the days: the alternation is deliberate. Tasting with someone else? Split each bottle — one centilitre is enough to recognise a style. And keep the empties: they remind you what you liked, so come January you'll know which full bottle to pick up.

Origin and facts

• 25 bottles of 2 cl, 50 cl in total
• Whisky from Scotland, Ireland, the United States, Japan, France, India, Taiwan, Wales, Australia and China
• Strengths from 40% to 50% vol.
• Online masterclasses by QR code with every bottle
• Box: Le Monde des Whiskies — Académie V, with a text per region inside the lid
• Spirits are not sold to anyone under the age of 18.