From the first distillery in Israel, we have their very first batch of single malt whisky available for sale outside of the distillery itself. So for the first time in Australia we are proud to introduce the Milk and Honey Classic Single Malt Whisky as the March Malt of the Month to our members and to make it more exotic it is limited to a measly 4000 bottles worldwide!
For this month we head to another ‘unlikely’ region for whisky production – the middle east. Don’t unpack your bags from last months journey just yet, we’re off to Tel Aviv, Israel, not somewhere you would associate with whisky production but the Milk and Honey Classic Single Malt Whisky is matured in the finest ex-bourbon and special ex-red wine STR casks. Maturation under the Tel Aviv sun benefited the whisky with a rapid development of flavour and texture, giving it a complex and delicate flavour, a medium-light body, with a balanced and refreshing character.
STR stands for ‘Shaved, Toasted and Re-charred’. It is a technique pioneered by the below mentioned Dr Jim Swan. A used cask is shaved inside to remove the previous toasting and is then re-toasted and charred. Effectively exposing new wood to the spirit. The STR cask allow influences from both new and used oak to create a powerful combination of rich fruit, oak and spice.
Once again, a ‘hot climate whisky’ – we spoke about the benefits of hot days/cool nights in last months newsletter. Tel Aviv has a larger difference between day/night temps than the average Scottish distillery and so the spirit is ‘worked’ in and out of the wood with the changes in temperature and resulting pressure.
This is a fantastic, complex and smooth single malt whisky not to mention worldy, exotic and not available in Australia until now and only to our members.
L’Chaim!
Nose: Oak and honey plus some orange peel aromas. Wafts of jasmin and vanilla pods.
Palate: A big burst of peppery sweetness that melts into honey, vanilla and just a touch of toffee. A very dry mouthfeel with no oilyness and just the slightest astringency.
Finish: Mildly spicey but definitely dry finish of medium length.
DISTILLERS NOTES
ABV: 46%
Bottle Size: 700ml
Region: Israel
Peated: No
Chill Filtered : No
Milk & Honey Classic Single Malt Whisky is a blend of whiskies matured in the finest ex-bourbon and special ex-red wine STR casks. Maturation under the Tel Aviv sun benefits the whisky with a rapid development of flavour and texture, giving it a complex and delicate flavour, a medium-light body, with a balanced and refreshing character.
Nose: Gentle vanilla sweetness, followed by light oak and floral notes.
Palate: Light body, vanilla, caramel and honey sweetness. Balanced by woody notes and light black pepper spiciness.
Finish: Short but delicate. The wood notes lingers in the palate for a while with a nice light spiciness.
ABOUT THE DISTILLERY
The Milk and Honey Distillery is an oasis of traditional craftsmanship among the hustle and bustle of one of the world’s leading night life and high-tech hubs. Tel Aviv is a rare combination of ‘old’ and ‘new’, an urban puzzle of preservation and innovation all at once. This young and dynamic environment serves as the ideal background for the dream of creating top quality single malt whisky – according to worldwide standards.
The first Israeli whisky distillery is located in the first city of Israel. Symbolic? Maybe, but it wasn’t for historic reasons that they chose to set the distillery here: Tel Aviv is the heart of Israel’s culinary and drinking scene. There are amazing indoor and outdoor markets here, world-class bars, and restaurants like no other place in the world. The Milk & Honey Distillery is now firmly entrenched in a city that never stops.
An urban distillery, located in one of Tel Aviv’s ‘up and coming’ neighborhoods, Milk & Honey is now a part of the city’s fabric, among entrepreneurs and innovators, makers and artisans. They built the distillery to be in their hometown, along with the beachfront, the lively markets and the architecture.
As entrenched in their hometown as they are – the aim and strategy of the distillery points abroad. The Milk & Honey people have been focusing on the global market since the inception of the distillery in 2014.
A small distillery by international standards – Milk & Honey are currently producing 170,000 litres of new make spirit per year. Not all of this is single malt, they also do a range of gins and vodkas. So at present it’s a relatively small distillery with big ambitions. And I say ‘big ambitions’ because they have the capacity to distill up to 700,000 litres/year with their current stills – only extra fermentation vessels would be needed to reach this level of production. So they’ve been careful to allow easy scalability of production into their initial distillery build. Smarts!
Dr. Jim Swan (1941-2017) – the ‘Einstein of Modern Whisky’ was a hired advisor for the distillery. Dr. Swan was a world leader in distilling and consulted to many new, big names in single malt whisky around the world. Kavalan (Taiwan), Penderyn (Wales), Victoria Caledonian (Canada) as well as Clydesdale Distillery and Lindors Abbey in Scotland.
