Earlier this month, Milk & Honey Distillery launched the entire Elements series. The Sherry Cask was already available in select markets but the other two Elements were released in tandem due to COVID-19 impact and they should reach markets in the coming month or two.

The M&H Elements series is exploring different casks (and more specifically – their previous content) impact on M&H spirit. There are three elements in the series which is part of the core range and will be available on a regular basis in all markets carrying M&H wares:

• Red Wine Cask – The M&H whisky was matured in Israeli Red Wine casks
• Sherry Cask – The M&H whisky was matured in Kosher sherry casks (Oloroso and PX) made in a Jerez Bodega especially for the distillery.
• Peated – The Whisky was matured in ex-bourbon and ex-Islay casks for a gentle peated whisky.

M&H Elements Red Wine Cask (46%, ₪249)

Nose: At first you do feel the M&H Classic DNA here as it starts with a fresh bourbony notes of honey and vanilla and gentle wine notes but then you get flooded by a strong red wine influence, strongly fortified with extra wine beyond the STR casks used for the Classic. Oak spice, cinnamon, tannins, raspberries and cranberries with a floral side, licorice. After a few minutes it gets more red fruits and sweeter with a touch of sourness. A fresh and luscious nose. Continue reading →

Recently I reviewed the M&H Founders Edition and remarked at the first official core line-up whisky will be here before 2019 ends. And here it is – M&H Classic has already hit the shelves locally in Israel and will be available in Europe next month and in the USA later in 2020.

The distillery also plans to release a new series of whiskies called Elements with the first member being M&H Elements Sherry Cask to be released in Q2 2020 and future members (Red wine cask and Peated cask) to be released in Q3 2020.

But let’s get back to the M&H Classic – Based on the plans set up years ago by the Distillery team (led by Tomer Goren the master distiller) and the late Dr. Jim Swan, the selected recipe for the Classic edition is a combination of Ex-Bourbon casks with Red Wine STR (Stripped, Toasted and Recharred) Casks.

M&H Classic is bottled at 46% and costs 199NIS (Although I’ve seen it for 189NIS in some shops) and should cost around €50 in Europe and $65 for 750ml version in the USA once it hits the shelves there.

M&H Classic (46%, 199NIS/€50/$65)

Nose: Clean, fresh and subtly sweet. There’s honey, gentle red grapes and red wine tannins, a hefty dose of vanilla, some earthy tone (dry earth and a touch of nutmeg) that adds some surprising depth, white pepper, – all in all a very rich nose despite the young age. After a few minutes there are some fresh floral side (floral wine) to the sweetness, quite a good balance between the Ex-Bourbon and STR casks.

Palate: Mildly sweet, spicy with white pepper and earthy nuttiness, soft cereals notes of bread bakery, caramel, vanilla and honey, soft wine tannins and red fruits in the background, good texture and body.

Finish: Short medium length. A very pleasant sweetness, lingering soft pepper spice, caramel, honey and red wine tannins.

Thoughts: For a first whisky it’s a very good expression. The combination of Ex-Bourbon and STR Wine casks at Tel-Aviv hot and humid weather delivers here a nice and pleasant whisky even at 3 years old. It’s an easy drinker and I’m sure many will like it.

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. Continue reading →

Whisky Live Tel-Aviv 2018 is starting tomorrow. I already reviewed the special show bottling (a 37 yo Port Ellen), but there are a few more interesting new releases for the Whisky Live show and the first one is the second single malt whisky from Milk and Honey Distillery.

The Milk and Honey distillery released their first single malt whisky in 2017 and now the distillery releases it’s second one for Whisky Live 2018, both whiskies bottled by the distillery under the Experimental casks series brand.

What are those experimental casks? It’s quite simple. A few casks were distilled back in 2014 at the beginning of the road for the distillery, from before there was a permanent location and before most of the equipment was installed. The distillery’s master distiller Tomer Goren distilled those different casks, with the help of the late Dr. Jim Swan (The distillery adviser), in order to play and find out how different new makes will behave and develop in our climate.

This specific cask (cask 2014-0002) was distilled in April 2014 from a lightly peated malt (using local peat source!) and bottled in November 2017 after 43 months. The whisky spent its first 32 months in a virgin oak (american oak) cask and then was finished for additional 11 months in ex-bourbon cask in the distillery warehouse in Tel-Aviv.

A total of 324 bottles (500 ml) were made from this cask and it’s will be available to purchase at Whisky Live Tel-Aviv 2018 this coming Wednesday and Thursday.

Milk and Honey Experimental Cask #2, Lightly Peated (46%, 449NIS/~$130)

Nose: Sweet, slightly smoky, pears and a bit of apricot, fresh oak spices, vanilla, gentle maltiness and white pepper. Rounded and mellow, feels way older than 3 years old (local climate works its wonder). Continue reading →