M&H Apex Dead Sea

Could this be the actual Apex of M&H, the promised land of milk and honey? This is about as niche a maturation as a whisky could possibly receive. Dead Sea is the eighth Apex release. It combines 60 casks, 20 each of ex-Bourbon, ex-STR, and ex-Red Wine; all aged for a year next to the Dead Sea. The lowest place on Earth at ~427 m below sea level and with temperatures of up to 50 degrees C the Dead Sea also boasts salinities of 8-10x that of normal sea water. These barrels had an angels share of 25 freaking percent! The wood contact and exchange here is ridiculous. After the year by the Dead Sea the barrels spent another Final two years in Tel Aviv. Let’s dive (or float, its the Dead Sea) in… N: Sweet and a little thin with a little harshness from 56.2% ABV. Vanilla, bitter chocolate, coffee. Mint/menthol, tobacco, and cinnamon. P: This is odd (I feel like I have used that word a lot for these M&H notes). Thin yet powerful. There is a heavy, heavy handed application of spice that is over quickly: cinnamon, clove, black pepper, the fruitiness of red chilli, and cardamon. Bitterness from cocoa powder and then a dry musty presence; not too dissimilar from old tea bags. If you can get through that overzealous and rushed wooding, then there is some brown sugar, toffee and aniseed to greet you. Sadly the best bit of the M&H, the orange and floral lightness is absolutely gone from this. F: Medium-short. Chilli and pepper heat overprint some sweet orchard fruit freshness, a bit of milk chocolate creaminess. And I think thats salinity, but honestly it’s hard to tell; the wood spice is so dominant. Wood is good. Rather, wood is good when it’s used respectfully and correctly. Whilst attempting to make a uniquely Israeli whisky was well intentioned there are just somethings that shouldn’t be done. One of those things is to put a whisky in some of the most extreme temperature conditions on the planet. Sadly, what is a genuinely interesting and promising spirit is decimated by aggressive wood-liquid exchange. You don’t put frozen fish sticks in the hottest oven and expect an even cook. You probably shouldn’t do the equivalent of this with whisky. As always, I am a rank amateur and my opinion is probably wrong. I suspect I miss something as I have read some dizzyingly positive reviews. Or perhaps like the WWA winning Sherry Cask, people are easily bribed one way or another, be it money, headlines, or a general buzz around an exciting new whisky destination. Sadly I must actually refer to a marketing slogan to sign off on these average malts: “good things come to those who wait” Distiller whisky taste #247 [Pictured here with a lump of Halite hopper crystals. The salty Dead Sea} M&H Running scores Classic: 3.5/5 Sherry: 3/5 Red Wine: 3.25/5 Peated: 3.25/5 Apex Pomegranate: 3.75/5 Apex Dead Sea: 2.75/5

Milk & Honey, a young Israeli distillery have released this Apex Cask Strength Single Malt from... The Dead Sea. It has been matured at extreme temperatures in that place, which i was lucky to have visited. The Dead Sea gets its name because of a bigger amount of salt that any other lake, and that makes you float in the water. That is why there are no fish in the lake (it is not a sea) and the most attractive tourist thing to do there is to pick some of the mud on the floor (it is not a sandy place, but a muddy one) and put it on your skin to be rejuvenated... allegedly. Well, this was bottled at 56.5%abv. On the nose, it is very Appealing. Mint and the classic yeast from this distillery. Cake and Cotton candy. Lime. A very spongy cake and lemon ice cream. Red Chilli, lemon citric. It smells exactly like a pancake without the honey. On the palate, it is sweet and fruity. Oranges And chocolalte for a second; then it turns into a nice dulce de leche. The second sip is exactly as a recently made orange juice, acid and very nice.  Aftertaste is a little short, but not bad. Orange peel, metallic. Orange bubblegum and impalpable sugar. Sweet and appealing. Overall, for a Cask Strength, this is not super complex, but it is easy to drink. The nose is very good, and it passes the test in every criteria. A nice dram, i hope to have more from this distillery in the future, my score for it is 85 over 100.

Tasted at an M&H tasting. Matured at the dead sea with an average temperature of 50°C and at -400 height, which causes cracks in the casks, but speeds up maturation. Ex- bourban and Ex-rye cask. Subtle smell. Cereal. Alcoholburn. A drop of water helps. It's nice and the gimmick of maturation at the dead sea is cool, but didn't leave a lasting impression, despite the high pricepoint.

Deep musty complex aroma. Flavors of toffee, dark wood, caramel and maybe some almond. Super rich and complex, has a ton of burn on it too. Love the dark stormy blend of flavors, the richness helps carry the flavor and the burn, but not quite enough on the latter. The proof hits a little hard, still very well done.

Nose: banana peel, lime zest Palete: lemon, black licorice, smoked orange wheels, black & blue steak Finish: fresh biscuits, doughnut shop

Great nose. Brine but no almost no brine in taste. Strongggggg