Milk & Honey Young Single Malt

Make no mistake, this is not whisky. This is still spirit. Yet it is named Young Single Malt. Well, as long as it does not say whisky on the label, there is apparently no legal issue. This is younger than three years. It’s a vatting of spirit from ex bourbon, ex red win and ex Islay casks, released by the Milk & Honey Distillery, founded in 2015 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The nose offers some vanilla, nuts and cardboard. A hint of red fruit and marzipan. An indistinct scent of the farm. Hint of smoke. But it is clear this is not yet fully developed. It is somewhat unbalanced.

The taste is rather flat, tob e honest. The hint of red fruit returns, but there is also some cardboard and wood that makes it quite drying. Some wet earth. They are not offnotes per sé, but the esters do not counter this enough to make it good.

The finish is short on caramel, smoke and wood.

I can taste the promise, but am also a bit worried about the cask selection for this release. They seem to be working against each other instead of going hand in glove, making this a cacophony of tastes.