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Distilled: Cocktails Expansion Board Game Review
WBG Score: 8.5
Player Count: 1-5
You’ll like this if you like: Viticulture, The Networks
Published by: Paverson Games
Designed by: Dave Beck, Richard Woods
This is a free review copy. See our review policy here
Distilled: Cocktails is not a small expansion. This is another full box of stuff, and unlike Africa & Middle East or Cask Strength, it genuinely changes how Distilled feels. I really like it, but I can absolutely see why some people will decide they preferred the cleaner base game. There is a lot of stuff on the table when you add all this in. But does it make the game better?
What appears to be the headline is the addition is the second washback, which lets you pay to distil a second spirit in the same round. The cost rises each time you unlock it, but it gives you far more flexibility and dramatically increases what your distillery can produce. But there is a lot more below the surface. On top of the second washback come cocktails, mixers, collectors, renown, a world map, more scoring opportunities and more reasons to care about exactly which spirits you are making. Lets get it to the table and see how it plays.
More Game, More Decisions
Cocktails are the biggest shift in the game mechanics and flow. You can now buy cocktail orders, collect mixers and later serve those orders using spirit labels you have already earned, gaining Renown and spreading your influence across the world map. Collectors then add another reason to make higher-value spirits, rewarding specific tiers and opening up extra end-game scoring based on the labels you have accumulated. Its delightfully connected and crunchy.
That all means you are doing more every round. Your spirits now feed into more systems, your decisions branch in more directions and there are more ways to build a strategy. Once you understand how everything links together, that extra decision space is where the expansion becomes genuinely interesting. And if you felt the base game was good, but lacked a bit of depth and complexity, well this expansion could well be for you.
Better, But Bigger!
The important thing to note at this point is that Distilled was not broken. The base game already worked brilliantly, but it was a little simple. Cocktails is not fixing a problem, it is asking whether you want a bigger, busier and slightly more complicated version of something you already enjoy.
For me, the answer is a resounding, "sometimes". Once you have learned the new systems, they start to feel natural and you find yourself doing more interesting things with the spirits you produce. The cocktails and collectors give you fresh reasons to shape your distillery in different ways which I find to be very interesting, and make the game feel quite fresh against the base game.
But there is a cost. There is more setup, more table space, more to teach, and more to think about. A two-player game only just fits on my table! Hence, I have not tried this with the full expansion beyond two yet! The rulebook itself recommends introducing the second washback alone first before adding cocktails, Renown, and Collectors, which tells you how substantial this expansion really is. I certainly would not teach a new player with this. And I won't always use it myself. There is just too much to sort out now. But when I have the time, I will always add it all in because the game is simply better with this all. It's just a fair bit of pre-game admin now.
Beautifully Integrated
The reason I liked the base game of Distilled was the sense that every round you are making something. Even if something goes wrong, you can make something. It is not always the thing you want, and that can be tough when you remove the cards you desperately need in the distilling phase, but there will still be a nice juicy mix of points and money up for grabs. A sense of progression every turn. And the chance to develop your engine to make more point-worthy batches in a later round. This all exists in Cocktails, but it feels dialled up to eleven! The chance to make two drinks some turns. The opportunities to get your hand on the gorgeous new cocktail glasses and fulfil an order there too and ramp up your points. It all feels just so satisfying.
Production-wise, though, it is excellent. The new boards, cards, tokens and artwork feel completely at home alongside the base game, and visually it all slots together far more seamlessly than the sheer amount of additional content might suggest. And I love the new dice. They look and feel (other than not being cold) a bit like ice cubes!
Mechanically, it all flows seamlessly, and this is important because it could easily have felt like a bolt-on, being this big of an expansion. Instead, once everything is laid out and you know what you are doing, it feels like a larger, better, more satisfying version of Distilled rather than a different game awkwardly attached to it.
Pros
Adds much more strategic variety and decision-making.
Second Washback is an excellent addition.
Cocktails and Collectors make your spirit choices matter in new ways.
Production and artwork integrate beautifully with the base game.
Cons
Adds a lot of setup, table space and rules.
Not necessary if you prefer Distilled's original simplicity.
Too much to throw at a brand-new player immediately.
Final Thoughts
Cocktails makes Distilled a little better, but asks quite a lot from you to get there. You are adding another box of components and several new systems to a game that was already very good, so I completely understand anyone who decides they do not need it.
For me, though, the extra depth is worth it. I would not use it when teaching someone their first few games, but from game three or four onwards I would be very happy to bring it in, and once players understand the extra systems I suspect most will want to keep them when they have the time, or I am setting up for them!
If you love Distilled and want more to do, more to plan and more ways to shape your distillery, this is the expansion that changes the game the most. It makes a good game better and offers me options I am delighted to have.
