Milk & Honey New Make Single Malt

The Milk & Honey Distillery is the very first in Israel. She opened her doors in 2015, so there is currently no whisky available yet. Their first single malt release is planned for 2019. But they do have a couple of bottles out there already so that they can keep paying the bills. There is the Levantine Gin at 46% and two young single cask releases of spirit that matured 6 and 8 months on bourbon casks. But what keeps the cash flowing at this point is their single malt new make, at 50% ABV in 50cl bottles. The noese starts rather typical for new make on loads of sweet malt and cooked vegetables. In this case I am reminded mostly of French beans and raw potatoes. There is a floral element that becomes a bit sour as you leave the spirit to breathe. No milk no honey (of course, that is just a biblical reference to Israel… unless the owners are fans of the pop band that represented their country during the Euro Vision Song Contest in 1979? Enough BS already, Mark, move on!). Nicely creamy and suyrprisingly soft on the palate. Spicy too. A bit sweeter than the nose predicted. Lekker romig en verrassend zacht op de tong. Mooi kruidig, ook. Wel zoeter dan de neus doet vermoeden. Very quaffable and seems to me an ideal ingredient for a negroni. On its own, it is quite alright, but not exceptional. Around 40 EUR for a bottle, but getting your hands on it will be quite a quest. Thanks, Sjoerd!