Israeli whiskey company wins ‘world’s best single malt’ award 2023

Israeli whiskey company Milk & Honey (M&H) has been awarded the title of ‘world’s best single malt’ by The World Drinks Awards.

The World Drinks Awards described the drink as having “Fruity aromas of citrus zest and white peach with a dash of wood varnish. Sweet to the taste with a weighty mouthfeel, this whisky has flavours of golden syrup, vanilla, tropical fruit and iced tea, before a finish of oak tannins with hints of anise and lemon peel.” 

Despite misconceptions that the whiskey should be from a single barrel, single malt whisky is a whisky that is produced by a single distillery, according to Kilchoman distillery.

“To be considered a single malt scotch, the whisky must be distilled from a mash bill of 100 percent malted barley at one distillery and aged for a minimum of three years in wooden casks” according to Liquor.com  

Milk & Honey distillery 

M&H was founded in 2013 by Gal Kalkstein and became the first Whiskey distillery in Israel. All the products the distillery produces are kosher. 

The Tel Aviv-based distillery has declared that the Israeli climate is the secret to its success. 

“Israel’s 300 sunny days in an average year and the Mediterranean climate are our greatest advantage. Hot climate maturation means that our whisky ages rapidly, yet significantly gracefully. Whisky made in warmer weather takes on specific terroir which yields unique flavors that somewhat differ from their Old-World counterparts. Our methods, technique and equipment carry on centuries-old knowledge and we keep the tradition of minimum three years of aging,” the M&H website states.

The whiskey is sold in 40 countries worldwide.

The World Whiskies Awards announced the winners for some of its most coveted categories at a special event on March 30th in London. Hundreds of distillers and industry veterans in attendance that night patiently awaited the big reveal: World’s Best Single Malt. And many of them might still be busy picking their jaws up off the ballroom floor. The grand prize went not to a producer from the major malt making regions of Scotland, Ireland or Japan. Instead it was collected by M&H out of Tel Aviv. Yes, the Tel Aviv in Israel.

The distillery, formerly known as Milk & Honey, won the accolade for its Sherry Cask expression—non-chill filtered and bottled at 46% ABV. Now we’ve got some exclusive words with the man responsible for crafting it, head distiller Tomer Goren.

But first we’re going to tell you a little bit about what this now-iconic liquid tastes like. Initially released in mid-2020, M&H Sherry Cask is part of the brand’s Elements series which focuses on unique components of maturation.

To wit, it is actually the first whisky ever to be aged in Kosher sherry casks from the Jerez region of Spain. In the hot and arid Middle Eastern climate, the application of this cooperage has imbued the underlying whisky with a thumping melody of red fruit, dark chocolate and, ultimately, tobacco. It’s a complicated symphony to consider and one which lingers on the palate for far longer than you might suspect from a non-age-statement offering.