The Milk & Honey Distillery is Israel’s first whisky distillery, proudly making world-class single malt with a splash of Israeli innovation thrown in. The brainchild of Gal Kalkshtein, an exile from the tech industry, the distillery was founded with help from whisky legends Dr Jim Swan and Tomer Goren. Based in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, just a stone’s throw from the Mediterranean Sea, it’s from these urban moorings that the team works with the blazing Middle Eastern sun to craft some of the world’s best whisky day after day.
The best part of making whisky is, much like raising children, finally letting it go out into the world. Due to their status as Israel’s first and most successful single malt makers, coupled with unique offerings in terms of terroir and cask types, they are blessed with the ability to shock and impress first-time drinkers again and again. Nothing beats explaining to whisky enthusiasts about their location, unique casks and terroir project, then seeing their faces light up with nerdy glee. The team personally beams with pride and maternal joy whenever they see their whiskies on shelves at stores or in whisky cabinets, knowing full well that their little ones have made it big.
What makes The Milk & Honey Distillery unique is how they engage with local influences and environment. They are in constant conversation with Israel’s varied landscape and climate by building their products around hot climate maturation and the terroir of cask maturation. They also doggedly explore the flavours provided by local cuisine in how they source such unique casks as ex-pomegranate wine and Marc de Galilee, and in the indigenous botanicals that take centre stage in their gin range, like za’atar and Jaffa orange.
