I watch a lot of science videos and one of the playlist that I'm currently engaged in are flatearthers being debunked. Is it entertaining to watch a TikToker's "personal research" being thoroughly decimated by peer-reviewed scientific facts? Yes. Is it depressing to see the alarming amount of people who think that the earth is a disc? Also yes.

While they can adequately explain how sunrises and sunsets occur, for the rest of us, we can appreciate how the rotation of the planets can gift us a new year. And for that, we should toast to that (segue imminent)... with The Macallan's A Night on Earth: The First Light.

As the fourth release in The Macallan's annual A Night on Earth series, this edition cast its sights from Speyside to New Zealand, one of the first places on earth to greet the sunrise of a new year. The casks used in The First Light were subjected to an average of 636 sensory checks before bottling. Crafted from a sherry-seasoned American and European oak casks—with a touch of ex-bourbon American oak—you get a single malt that leans into something delicate on the palate. Berry compote dance on the tongue with toasted marshmallows inching close behind, hands at the waist, as Manuka honey follows: a conga line that ends in a softly spiced mellowness.

Continuing The Macallan’s tradition of collaborating with artists, this edition's packaging features illustrations by New Zealand artist Bonnie Brown. For Brown, the artwork, it reminded her of her family's New Year's Day ritual, "starting the day at the beach and taking a swim in the ocean." That sentiment runs through every panel of the packaging, inviting the drinker to pause before even pulling the cork. Unfolding across three layers, her work—sunset, celebration, and first light—mirror the arc of New Year’s Eve in the Southern Hemisphere. The colours are airy and natural; a reflection of the Antipodean landscape.

Sure, A Night on Earth: The First Light is about that first morning of a new year but it is also about new beginnings. Where the toast to that first step is an important process for the rest of one's life.

The Macallan's A Night on Earth: The First Light retails for SGD175 and is available at The Macallan House