This is the sign on the door.
And this is how you use Israeli ingenuity to make the Tel Aviv water consistent and good.
This is where you grind the grain.
Grain and ground grain.
Custom made in Israel masher: add water and grain and mash.
Inside the monster masher.
It really is a monster.
Add yeast and turn sugar into alcohol: that’s bio-chemistry!
Fermentation tank is also made in Israel.
Get all of that pesky water out of your alcohol.
A beautiful piece of machinery.
Separation: for other high spirits.
Eastern European monster still: for future development.
From the still comes the clear alcohol: the “New Make”. Turning it into whisky takes time and a cask. These are all kosher casks from kosher wines or sherries.
And this is the clear winner. Before it’s whisky, it’s “New Make”. It’s got a lot of flavour but it’s basically moonshine. I’m not blind so it’s clearly good.
Can anyone argue with this?
It’s barely out of diapers but it has a lot of flavour. Whisky gets its colour and its finish from the barrels it’s kept in. This was only 8 months in barrels but its very drinkable and it’s completely kosher. It’s a real whisky made to commercial scale right here in the Holy Land.
I’m not a whisky expert, I’m just a dedicated amateur. The Milk and Honey distillery is on its way and making something amazing. There’s a beautiful visitor centre near Jaffa in the south of Tel Aviv and they’ve got an amazing story. You can taste the first beginnings of what they’re making. In addition to the “New Make” raw alcohol and the Cask 004 Young Single Malt I tasted a “Levantine Gin”. I’m not a regular gin drinker but it had incredible flavours.
If you want a more technical review this is a great one from Whisky Israel. You can organise a visit to the visiter centre (by appointment). I can thoroughly recommend that. It’s a great new tourist attraction for Tel Aviv. Look them up on Facebook.
