Milk And Honey Elements Peated

In the lead-up to Passover, I usually review a Japanese whisky before I seal up my cabinet. With the rising rate of anti-semitic incidents, both violent and online, I decided this year to do a series of reviews from my open collection of Israeli whiskies before I seal up the cabinet in April.

I visited Milk and Honey Distillery in 2019, the first I’ve been to that focused on single malt whisky. I took many notes and photographs. You can read about it here:

connosr.com/milk-and-honey-israel-the-next…

The Elements series are expressions that are bottled at 46%. The whiskies are matured in a combination of ex-bourbon barrels and another type of barrel. In this case, the distillery used ex-Islay casks.

This bottle was opened on September 3 at an epic tasting, and has remained gassed since that time. It is 90% full.

This expression is reviewed in my usual manner in a Brilliant Highland whisky glass, allowing it to settle after which I take my nosing and tasting notes, followed by the addition of a few drops of water, waiting, then nosing and tasting.

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Nose: 21/25

Warm, fruity and sweet. First impression is stewed apples with cinnamon prepared as a pie filling (note - I use fresh apples to make my pies but I know some people cook theirs first). Some vanilla. A hint of peat/smoke. Pleasant, but not too complex. Water and warmth (Ashok manoeuvre) make the nose a little stronger, but not more complex..

Taste: 20.5/25

Dry peat on the arrival. Spicy. Slightly peppery in the development. The peat, while not overwhelming, seems to cover up any other flavours that might be there. Water and warms makes it more peppery. The peat and spices are stronger. Same lack of complexity but a more pleasant “punch” of flavour”. (21/25)

Finish: 21/25

Long. Astringent. Slightly smoky, like the nostrils of a dragon after attacking an army.

Balance: 20.5/25

The nose promises more than the palate delivers. The flavour is very unidimentional. With water and warmth the flavours are richer, but no different. 21/25)

Score: Neat - 83/100 With Water: 84/100

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I have to say this one is a little disappointing. I thought that the peated casks might add a bigger mix of flavours. I have a cask strength bottle that I filled at the distillery from an ex-Islay cask and it is certainly more interesting.

While drinkable, I would not buy this one again. In fact, I think I would be wary of future Elements releases. They are too expensive in Canada to take a chance on.

But I do hold out hope for this distillery. If they are holding back some of their stocks and release an older standard bottling in the future, building on the Classic, things could go very well.