WELCOME TO THE CURRENT WHISKY OF THE MONTH
Milk and Honey Westward Cask – September 2024
Please be upstanding for the world premiere of a new era of collaboration between Milk and Honey (M&H) and the powerhouse American single malt distillery – Westward. Two of worlds whiskies major power players have instigated a ‘barrel swap program’ – and your not-so-little whisky club has the world exclusive first release from this partnership – Welcome to the Milk and Honey Westward Cask!
A whisky that reflects this sunny and fresh season perfectly. A whisky full of the bright notes of spring. Green citrussy piquancy, big yellow malty notes and an orange-y apricot jam tang is just the beginning of what’s to be had in this one.
A whisky from a company that has absolutely blown the world away since they burst onto the world whisky stage a little over 4 years ago with a string of medals, including the World Whisky Awards ‘Whisky of the Year’ in 2023. A whisky that, simply put – we are incredibly proud to have our logo featured on – The Milk and Honey Westward Cask!
This SMWC exclusive release is the WORLD FIRST to come from this collaboration and barrel exchange program.
To back this fantastic Milk & Honey Malt of the Month up, what better way than to offer as our ‘Members Extra’ the flagship whisky from then other half of the collaboration – Westward – and their Cask Strength expression.
The M&H Westward Cask Finish was distilled in late 2020 from a fermented wash of UK grown Munton’s malt. Initially matured in an ex-bourbon cask for 2.5 years in the Tel Aviv warehouse. It was then transferred to a fresh Westland Single Malt Whiskey Cask for a further 9 months. This secondary maturation took place outside the warehouse with the cask exposed to the full sun and weather of Tel Aviv for the entire 9 months finishing period. It has ben bottled slightly lower than cask strength at 57% abv.
Now this isn’t our first waltz with the desert whisky production specialists from Isreal. In fact, we introduced M&H to Australia way back in 2020 when they launched their first single malt whisky to market. Last year they thanked us for that introduction by supplying to the club the World Exclusive cask-strength version of their just-crowned Whisky of the Year – the M&H Elements Sherry Cask.
With such a great relationship between the SMWC and M&H, we wanted to keep the good times rolling with another world-exclusive for this year. But what to do? Let me tell you, when choosing a cask from the M&H portfolio one has a MASSIVE choice of both cask-types, finishes AND maturation environments. You see, not only are Tomer (head distiller) and crew mad keen on maturing their whisky in ALL the cask types that ever existed (seriously- this distillery makes the average indy-bottler look positively BEIGE with the cask choices they make!) – but M&H has 4 separate and wildly different maturation warehouses located in all the (news to me when I found out) different environments Israel has to offer. They have bond stores spread around Israel ranging from below sea-level scorching heat (on the shores of the dead sea) to mountain-top cool climates. From the Mediterranean-fed humidity of Tel Aviv – to the parch-dryness of the desert.
This particular project began back in 2020 at Whisky Live in Paris. M&H and Westward had neighbouring stalls and Tal Chotiner (head of international sales, M&H) and Miles Munro (master blender and brand ambassador for Westward) discovered a true friendship as well as a love of each others products. It was decided then, that a barrel swap program between the distilleries would occur. Each to age in the others casks.
This month’s SMWC exclusive release is the WORLD FIRST to come from that collaboration and barrel exchange program.
OUR TASTING NOTES
Nose: Candied pineapple, apricot jam, mixed peel and I even get dry Milo somewhere there. There’s also a ‘just opened pack of cigarettes, sweet tobacco aroma curling its way around in the background.
Palate: Super creamy mouthfeel with an initial white pepper burst. Big sultana sweetness morphs into citrus and vanilla and there’s a lovely well-done short-crust pastry note there too – like ‘Malt-o-Milk’ biccies from childhood.
Finish: A long-lasting kaleidoscope of sweet and sour with crunchy green apples, sultanas, fresh-squeezed citrus peel and more of those malty, pastry notes.
A super easy-dramming whisky that is just as well behaved on the palate as it is bursting with all those American oak notes we love so much. Super creamy, big citrus flavours and more vanilla than an M-rated sex scene – alongside those delicious jammy bursts – make this a simply stunning whisky. The 57% abv is just so well integrated – best you remind yourself you’re drinking some ‘grown up whisky’ here because your palate simply won’t notice how strong this is. It’s just sooo easy to drink…and drink…and you know where this is going…
This is the Cask Strength release of Westward’s flagship ‘Original’ single malt whiskey!
FROM MILK AND HONEY
When thinking of where to make whisky, the vibrant beachside party town of Tel Aviv does not immediately spring to mind, yet M&H stands proudly against the grain as Israel’s first single malt whisky distillery. M&H has been forced to forge an alliance of convenience with the everpresent Middle Eastern sun, resulting in unbeatable hot climate maturation possibilities and a nasty habit for pushing boundaries.
A few years ago, M&H reached out to the wonderful distillers at the Westward distillery in Portland, Oregon. The chemistry was immediate, born from the unique camaraderie of making single malt where we’re not supposed to! A cask swap was inevitable, and now, years later, M&H is proud to announce the very first lovechild between our distilleries and the first bottle of single malt that’s been matured in American Single Malt casks.
Indeed, this whisky is both the first to be released from our Westward casks, and the first commercial whisky ever to be matured in this new generation of cask provenance. We fell in love with this cask the moment we cracked it open, and know you’ll enjoy it as much as we do!
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Deep and syrupy maltiness that’s coddled by oak and lashed with flecks of brandied raisins.
Palate: A burst of winter citrus and spice carried by a silky and buttery texture.
Finish: The bright palate gives way to the sweet malt of the nose, now complemented by honeycomb and faint gasps of mellow rye spice.
FROM WESTWARD
Hi SMWC,
Miles Monroe, master Blender for Westward Whiskey. I’m here in our tasting room at the Distillery in Portland, Oregon. Excited to talk to you about M&H, our newest collaboration. This is actually the single barrel coming to you finished in westward whiskey barrels. This was a project started well over two years ago, I think. We were in Whiskey Live, Paris and I started bringing my whiskey over to their booth. They started trading me whiskey. We realized we loved each other’s single malts and that also the both of us were in the unique position of being, you know, this sort of new style of single malt whiskey made, not in the traditional regions where you usually find this whiskey.
We talked about the climate differences here in Portland, of course, we’re in a temperate zone with a lot of rain, whereas, you know, Tel Aviv, you’re talking about very hot, practically a desert kind of climate and what that did to our whiskeys and how it made different styles of single malt.
So we decided we’re going to do a cast exchange, and that’s what you’ve got right here. I sent them a number of my used Westwood cast. They sent back some of their used M&H cast and, and these projects began. So what you’ve got there is M&H finished in our classic Westwood whiskey barrels. That’s what I’ve got in front of me here.
It’s a really tasty dram – one that I think is really complimentary to this M&H release that you have here. So hope you enjoy this and definitely pick up some Westwood as well. I think it’s going excellent companion to this whiskey.
Cheers.