Milk & Honey 2017 (cask #0303 for Holydram)

For Milk & Honey distillery ex-Islay casks are one of the cornerstones for their whiskies. Some of the preliminary releases as well as the Elements Peated core range expression use this type of cask.

Today we’re trying a single cask release for Holydram Israel. We hear the cask is coming from Ardbeg, although they don’t officially make this claim.

 

Milk & Honey 3 yo 2017 (61,6%, OB for Holydram Israel, ex-Islay cask #2017-0303, 223 btl.)

Nose: a vegetal / mineral start rather than peaty I’d say, on mulchy leaves and damp cardboard, then moving to camphor and gentian. Hints of waxed paper and dough. Sweet pears, smoked grains and herbal honey in the background. Some ginger and pencil shavings as well.

Mouth: a bit aggressive, not just because of the alcohol heat but also because there’s a big load of peppery oak, salinity and earthy notes. Again a slightly vegetal side that I’m not really fond of. Bitter herbs, wood char, iodine and mineral dryness. Sea spray.

Finish: long, still quite dry, with hints of seaweed, black peppercorns, straw and ashes.

Rather good whisky, even though the youth is obvious. I’m sure this will improve with a few extra years, but for the moment there’s little more than sweet, earthy peat. Not exactly a necessary profile either, coming from Israel. Thanks, Gal!