Description

• Milk and Honey had its genesis in Tel Aviv, the heart of the culinary and drinking scene of Israel. While this bottling was just released to the USA market this year, Milk & Honey has been producing spirits since 2012 as Israel's first distillery. They use the hot Mediterranean climate to their advantage which allows for rapid maturation. They also answer to a higher power, their whisky is kosher by Tel Aviv Rabbinate standard. In the simplest terms, the whisky is kosher, satisfying Jewish religious dietary laws.
  
  For our single malt bottling, the barley came from Scotland, while it was distilled in Tel Aviv. The ex-bourbon barrels were sourced from Buffalo Trace and the wine barrels were from a bodega in Spain and undertake the "STR" treatment. STR stands for Shaving, Toasting and Re-charring.  The late whiskey consultant Dr. Jim Swan pioneered this process. STR helps balance out the tannin influence in the whiskey. The barrel is first disassembled, then the interior shaved, toasted, and re-charred to caramelize the wood sugars. This treatment will show up in the whiskey as a more oak influence with hints of caramel, cloves and allspice notes, along with dark fruit from the red wine influence. As previously mentioned, the hot Mediterranean allows for a quicker aging process. This bottling is only one year old!
  
  On the nose look for vanilla sweetness and floral citrus fruits. On the palate, vanilla clove, honey and dried fruit. It finishes long with a lingering oakiness and black pepper. I was not there, but I imagine this tastes like the manna gathered before the sunrise.