M&H Classic Single Malt

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house.... were samples of M&H whisky. This year, newcomers M&H made quite the ruckus taking out the worlds best whisky award (WWA) for the elements Sherry Cask. An odd origin, Israel and an interesting mission blueprint. For anyone looking for some insight into this new maker I highly recommend checking out the entry for this dram on malt-review.com, there is an excellent break down of the background to this new distillery and its story. Far more detail there than I care to get into here. The important cliff notes for M&H though: (1) the name references Israel, biblically described as “a land flowing with milk and honey” to indicate the fertility of the land, (2) Israels climate causes locally grown barley to have undesirable fibers and low starch content not suitable for making whisky, (3) so despite point 1, point 2 means that M&H import barely from the UK. To kick off tonights six dram run is M&Hs first release. The ‘Classic’ a three year old, single malt, blended from single malts matured in ex-Bourbon (75%), STR casks (20%), and virgin oak casks (5%). Unchill-filtered, with natural colour, and bottled at 46% ABV. N: Rich and quite sweet with a little alcohol burn. There is an abundance of woody honey, waxy stone fruits, and a floral malt. A little coconut is there if you search for it and a saltiness that brings with it a hint of rubberiness. Interesting enough, but perhaps a little confused by some competing ends of the olfactory spectrum? P: Warm, and surprisingly heavy on the palate with a slight waxiness. Banana, coconut, and candied ginger are most apparent to me. Before heading into a vanilla and honey malt with oats and dark chocolate. Cinnamon and a little pepper add spice to follow the gingery zing. A most wonderfully floral oaky orange is a standout. F: Medium. Peppery and lightly floral. Oakyness again, maybe with some barrel char and honey-toffee tones? This is off to a good start. Whilst the nose remains a little confused to me, the palate is the stand out driving a floral element that I find compelling and want more of. I don’t know about milk and honey, but certainly honey and blossoms is a tag line I can get behind. Is this uniquely Israeli? I don’t know. Would I, on blind tasting, believe this to be a lowland Scotch? Probably; its lightly sweet, malty, and with florals. Time will tell as we move through these offerings from the house of milk and honey, if this is unique spirit or a unique location with a Scotch imitation. Distiller whisky taste #242 [Pictured here with a vaguely geographically relevant rock. This is a piece of limestone from the Great Pyramid of Giza. The main structural stones of the pyramids are carved from quarries along the Nile valley and represent the Mokkatam Formation. In the Eocene (~50 million years old) a retreating seaway left an embankment that became the north-northwest part of the Giza Plateau. As the sea receded, a shallow lagoon formed above a shoal and coral reef. Carbonate muds, silts, and sands lithified into the layers from which the pyramid builders quarried limestone blocks and from which they carved the Sphinx]. M&H Running scores Classic: 3.5/5

Sydney Whisky Show May 20th 2023. Whisky #27 Nose: Vanilla, honey, caramel, coconut (maybe banana?), soft floral flourishes, delicate fruitiness (mango, pineapple, gooseberry, melon) and a touch of pencil shavings. Palate: Vanilla and caramel on the arrival leading into a spicy citric development with a little honeyed sweetness, canned peaches or apricots, pineapple and a touch of coconut. There is a peppery catch in the late palate that is strikingly reminiscent of Talisker, but this one is absolutely not a maritime style malt – instead it has a fresh barley sugar and orchard fruit crispness. Finish: Medium. Lingering mild fruit, honey and spice notes with a dry tannic wood spice hint in the aftertaste. This is a great base-level offering from a comparatively young distillery. To be honest I’m surprised to find this sort of profile coming from what I assume is a warm-climate distillery, but then I do not know anything about the terroir. Are they located in a temperate micro-climate? It’s a straightforward malt and lacks a little in balance, but there is the undeniable spark of something really fine here. I enjoyed this young whisky – not enough to prompt me to buy a bottle but certainly enough to make me taste further, and I’m glad I did just that! “Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)

My second Milk & Honey expression, the Israeli distillery, was actually their first, called "The Classic". Bottled at 46%abv, matured in bourbon barrels, virgin oak, and some red wine casks. This is the really flagship of their core range. On the nose, it is an ode to their name: Honey. Thick burnt caramel beautiful. After having a couple expressions, i can safely say that their really trademark note is Yeast. The yeasty profiles of this whisky is really something else. Stewed apples. The palate is way too simple. A nice pepper spice and lots of honey. Nothing more, easy drinkable. Aftertaste is much more floral. Herbal, like sparragus. Nice puffs of aromatic smoke. Overall, this is a normal dram. For their first expression, i have to say that they have something good here; a nice spirit is flowing through their stills, but it still needs time in barrels to fully develop some complexity that will launch this single malt into other levels. My score for this new dram is 73 over 100.

A creamy, Single Malt Whisky by Gal Kalkshtein & his team — Amit Dror, Simon Fried, Roee & Naama Licht founders of Milk & Honey in Tel Aviv; the first distillery in Israel. It is aged "under the Tel Aviv sun" in a combination of ex-Bourbon casks & STR Red Wine casks. It has a floral birth with notes of vanilla & fresh oak; while a full life adds notes of chewy toffee, roasted grain, medjool dates & a hint of spice; that leads to a quick death with more flowers. December 2020 / February 2021 / August 2022

M&H Classic – Tasting Notes Rating: 3.5/5 Nose: Light and delicate, offering a soft entry with gentle aromatic cues. Palate: Opens with sweet tones balanced by warming spice. Notes of orange peel brighten the profile, while honey weaves through to smooth out the edges. Finish: Subtle and short, leaving a whisper of sweetness and spice on the palate.

This is quite complex, but the flavors just don't do anything for me. I would not buy this bottle and I'm glad that I got a taster. Nose: Funk (it brought be back to Afghanistan...weird), malt, honey, cereal, spicy Palate: Orange, apricot, malty, cheerios, spicy Finish: Longer than I expected, slightly spicy, ethanol Mouthfeel: Slightly thin