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[UPDATE: DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN MOVED FROM SATURDAY MAY 9TH -- WHEN OBSERVANT JEWS WERE UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE -- TO SUNDAY MAY 10TH, WHICH IS MOTHER'S DAY FYI. WHEN DID SCHEDULING GET SO COMPLICATED?! BUT THIS EVENT WOULD BE GREAT ANYTIME! OBVIOUSLY IF ANYONE WHO ALREADY BOUGHT A TICKET FOR THE 9TH CAN'T DO THE 10TH, WE'LL OF COURSE REFUND YOU...]
Fellow Drammers!
This event has been a long time in coming, and we couldn't be more excited. As I'm sure most of you know, we have had a vibrant chapter of the club in Tel Aviv for over a year now. When we announced the launch event, little did we know that it conflicted with Milk & Honey's holiday party. To our incredible surprise (and deeply humbling), my understanding is they not only moved the date of their holiday party to support our event, but they bought tickets for their distillery team to come to attend! A testament to how generous they are and an incredible honor for us (had we known of the conflict, we of course would have moved the date of our event instead!). In any case, we were privileged to do a tour with their head distiller Tomer Goren the following day, and we're proud that the organizers of our Tel Aviv chapter have a long history of supporting this exciting and important distillery that has just entered the US market in the last few months.
All of which is to say we really love everything about this distillery and their team. They're awesome, and their whisky is awesome, and of course we wanted to do something in honor of their launch in the US.
We were initially going to welcome their launch with an in-person event with their CEO here in NYC back on April 1st, followed by a barrel pick event by our Tel Aviv chapter in mid-April, until both had to be put on hold as a result of the covid shutdown. But of course, we weren't about to let that stop us -- their whisky had arrived on US shores and we needed to do something to celebrate, and this Sunday is the result. They are going to be staying up late on a Sunday to welcome US, and we have been saving some special bottles for this very occasion. So, drumroll please, check out our lineup for Sunday (and note, since we only have 1 of some of these bottles, each person will again receive either SET A or SET B on a first-come first-served basis. The decision will not be easy, as you will see, choose wisely....
- Elements Sherry Whisky: (SET A ONLY) -
"Sample Only". 46% abv. You now know everything we know about it. If you haven't already figured it out, that's because they're honoring us with some pretty experimental stuff they've been working on. Needless to say, this is the only chance any of us will have to try this any time soon. Then again, that makes for a pretty hard choice, because SET B is.....
- Pomegranate Wine Cask: (SET B ONLY) -
"Sample Only", 55% abv. Aged 1 year, 5 months, unpeated, distilled Oct 17, 2018, bottled March 31, 2020. Once again, you now know everything we know about it (at least this time we have an age statement -- remember it's hot in Israel, this is maturing at a much faster rate than most places...), and again this is probably the only chance any of us will have to try this fun experimental cask anytime soon...
- Single Cask Nation 2yo (ex-first fill Jamaican rum barrels). (BOTH SET A and SET B) -
If you blinked, you may have missed this special Milk & Honey release from SCN last week, which sold out in instants (a fairly common occurrence btw in the land of SCN these days...). (and btw, if you're not on Single Cask Nation's mailing list, what on earth are you waiting for?) Luckily, they are incredible friends and supporters of Drammers Club and arranged for us to get 2 bottles for our tasting. 61.3% abv, so look for this towards the end of our tasting, 2 of 268 bottles. Distilled July 2017, bottled December 2019. Cask #0185.
- Single Cask Nation 2yo (ex-bourbon barrels). (BOTH SET A and SET B) -
Yeah, good luck finding this one either. SCN held this barrel for their retail release line, which isn't available in NYC yet, but we pulled some strings farther West and tracked down a couple.... Anyway, distilled June 2017, bottled December 2019, bottled at cask strength at 59.85% abv, 2 of 256 bottles.
- Whisky in Bloom - Young Single Malt "Lightly Peated". (BOTH SET A and SET B) -
Fun fact: there is no law in Israel defining how long a spirit needs to be aged to call it "whisky", unlike Scotland where it needs to be aged 3 years. Nevertheless, (and I'm pretty sure this is true, but we'll confirm with them on Sunday) out of respect to the Scottish tradition, Milk & Honey did not release anything in Israel under the name "whisky" until was aged 3 years, instead releasing a series of work-in-progress bottles like this one under the "young single malt" line. This is interesting to reflect on given that whisky in Israel matures at a much faster rate than in Scotland given the climate (India is following a similar path, pushing for 3 year aging by law despite the hotter climates). In any case, I have sourced in Israel (and mostly drank) a series of bottles from them over the years, that are labeled simply as "Young Single Malt" (see photo below). It seems that in contrast, they have relented a bit with their US releases, seeing as the SCN bottlings both use the word "whisky" and the "young single malt" releases in the US come with the title "Whisky in Bloom". Anyway, we'll be tasting two of the US releases on Sunday, this is the first, the "Lightly Peated", we've got 2 of 1,100 bottles, a blend of STR, ex-bourbon and ex-Islay casks. No age statement, the side simply reads "aged for a short period of time". 46% abv.
- Whisky in Bloom - Young Single Malt "Double Cask". (BOTH SET A and SET B) -
Same note as above regarding "whisky in bloom", but this one is aged in a blend of ex-bourbon and ex-red wine STR casks. Also 46% abv. We've sourced 2 of 1,500 bottles of this limited release.
- Young Single Malt: "The Last One" (SET A ONLY) -
Another one I picked up in Israel a while back, a double cask of ex-red wine STR and ex-bourbon bottles, 1 of 4000 bottles (500ml, so smaller pour size on this one), distilled in October 2018. 46% abv. Again this is trumpeting the narrative of the "whisky" is coming, this is the last pre-whisky release... Will it be different than the Double Cask "Young Single Malt" or the "Classic" below? We'll find out on Sunday. Note that since I picked this up in Israel, unlike the "young single malt" releases in the US, the word "whisky" does not appear anywhere on the bottle...
- Roots Herbal Liquor. (SET B ONLY) -
This is the real curve ball in the lineup, I picked it up in Tel Aviv a while back and I'm a little fuzzy on exactly what it is, but I'm pretty sure it's basically an infused moonshine. I'm just going to type up what's on the label verbatim: "A tribute to Israel's 70 years of creation, innovation and passion, we have fashioned a most singular herbal liquor. Seven exceptional individuals each selected a unique herb most symbolizing the essence of the Israeli spirit. The resulting liquor, based on our double distilled single malt new make, is truly one of a kind. Please note: 35% abv. Also please note: it's only a 500ml bottle, so again it will be a smaller pour than the others...
- Milk & Honey "Classic" Single Malt Whisky. (SET A ONLY) -
There's no age statement on this, but per the focus on honoring Scottish maturation traditions, I'm pretty sure this is the first core range release that is 3 years old, and I'm guessing it's the reason they've waited until now to enter into the US market. 46% abv. This also uses ex-bourbon and ex-red wine STR casks, like the Double Cask above. "Matured under the Tel Avivian Sun". I like that!
- Milk & Honey - Distillery Exclusive Single Malt Whisky (SET B ONLY) -
Back in November 2018 when this was bottled, as I imagine is still the case today, if you took a tour of the Milk & Honey distillery in Tel Aviv, there was an option to buy a bottle that you "personally bottled". There's a contraption that facilitates this towards the front of the distillery, and so this is effectively a single cask selection specially picked for those who tour the distillery. Back when I was there in November 2018, I of course got one! The spirit age, according to my terrible handwriting, is "3.5" years, and it was cask no. 2015-003, bottled at 55.4% abv, bottle no. 83. That's all we know...
Yep, once again a helluva lineup, and an incredible opportunity to really explore this important new distillery in depth. Happily, we've made the decision between SET A and SET as hard as possible. :)
Zoom Link for Friday:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84220696573?pwd=US9GUnRoUkoxUlkybW50amczRzBMZz09
Meeting ID: 842-2069-6573
Password: 05102020
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Cheers!
Charlie