Earlier this year (2 months ago to be precise), Milk & Honey distillery has released their Founder’s Edition whisky, a limited edition of 1000 bottles for those who participated in their crowd funding campaign six years ago. I was fortunate to think ahead and invest in the campaign and get some bottles home.

This is the first official release of whisky distilled at the distillery, excluding the Bottle-Your-Own  offering at the distillery. The timing for the release was crucial. It had to prelude the single casks releases for the festivals season and the first core line up official whisky offering coming up real soon (before 2019 ends).

This release ‘recipe’ is STR and ex-bourbon casks, finished in Kosher sherry cask before being bottled at 57%.

M&H Founder’s Edition (57%, 1000 bottles)

Nose: Red fruits, the STR cask is dominant at first with tannins and red wine. Cereals, honeyed peaches, a bit of chocolate (with some charred cask smoke). After a few minutes the PX finish enters the stage with more dried fruit and chocolate but the honey, cereals and gentle wine are the backbone of this whisky.

Palate: Spicy and lively, tannins, honey, oak spice, cinnamon, red fruits sweetness with lots of redcurrants and milk chocolate.

Finish: Short medium length, drying spices, dark chocolate and gentle honeyed fruits.

Thoughts: What an exciting moment! First I had to waiting patiently to the distillery to setup itself and overcome a few bureaucratic bumps, gear into production mode and then wait a few more years till the whisky is ready. And the whisky itself? I’m not too objective (naturally), but I like it and the combination of those casks. But at the same time I think it could benefit from a few more months in the casks but I guess that timing and future plans intervened and forced their hand to release it and fulfill the promise to the investors before moving on towards the general release whisky. Can’t wait till it arrives!