whisky

Risk … game vs. reality

Playing the game of Risk. (photo © Jorge Royan)

I’ve always thought of the Nordic region as peaceful. Admittedly, my knowledge of the area is largely limited to Risk, the board game, where Greenland, Iceland and the Scandinavian countries are considered a haven, free of imminent attack from the throw of a dice.

Well, Finland just purchased Israel’s David’s Sling defensive system. For $345 million US. It was one of Finland’s first moves after recently being accepted into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. And it was the first sale abroad for David’s Sling, an integrated part of Israel’s multi-tier missile defence system. Israel now carries the title of major supplier to NATO.

I guess the world’s a bit more complicated than Risk.

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So long, Noa Tishby, the Israeli performer appointed by our previous prime minister, Yari Lapid, to advocate for Israel through her strong social media presence. With the formal and former title of special envoy for combating antisemitism and delegitimization of Israel – fit that onto a business card! – she was known for sparring with BDS advocate Bella Hadid and others. Tishby was also a vocal supporter of Israel’s anti-judicial reform movement. Giving voice to the many thousands protesting the current government and its extreme shift rightward and into sometimes theocratic territory, Tishby says this was the reason for her dismissal. Well, ya. As the hawkish Jerusalem Post editorialist Ruthi Blum noted, “Tisbhy is free to share [her opinion]. But she shouldn’t have expected the government she’s been bashing to keep her as a representative.” Well, no. But keep on truckin’ Noa Tishby.

BTW, Tishby will be a guest at the JNF Negev event in Vancouver on June 29.

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Israel’s Tel Aviv Museum of Art is again among the world’s 100 most visited museums. This according to international art magazine The Art Newspaper. TAMA was ranked 49th in 2022, a jump from its 56th place the year prior. I am fortunate to be one of those visitors, on multiple occasions, over the past many years, often dragging my two children there when they were younger – how fun was that!

Paris’s Louvre and the Vatican Museum took first and second place, respectively. Canada was represented with a 60th place win by Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum.

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Congratulations Milk & Honey, Israel’s preeminent whisky distiller, awarded the 2023 world’s best single malt whisky by the World Drink’s Awards for its Elements, Sherry Cask drink. Described as “[f]ruity aromas of citrus zest and white peach with a dash of wood varnish. Sweet to the taste … with flavours of golden syrup, vanilla, tropical fruit and iced tea.…” Sounds like a palate pleaser to me. But, if I had to choose, my favourite would be Seagram’s Five Star rye whisky. Not so much for its taste but for fond memories of fighting with my siblings for the silver sheriff’s star glued to the bottles.

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Jerusalem was selected by Time magazine as one of the world’s 2023 top 50 destinations, holding the 48th spot. It’s one of my favourite places to visit on a bustling Friday, starting with a walk through the overcrowded neighbourhood of Mea She’arim and enjoying a freshly baked challah. Then, bargaining my way through the Old City’s Arab Market, its tastes, smells and sights, and eventually making my way to the Western Wall, with the golden Dome of the Rock overhead. Ending with lunch at Machane Yehuda, the popular central Jerusalem food market, which has the freshest of meats and vegetables, and many colourful stalls.

Not to be outdone, Canada held two spots. Churchill was third – can’t beat those Northern Light spectaculars. Vancouver was 38th, for its eclectic cuisine and the beautiful Stanley Park.

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For sure, difficult days in Israel. Sociopolitical cultures are clashing internally. External enemies are looking on with glee, and testing us. But we’re not sinking into despair. Israel has experienced difficult times before and emerged stronger and wiser. So it will be this time.

Arguably, we are being governed by the worst government in our short history – for many reasons, including recent security challenges. I mean, come on, with someone as inexperienced and reactionary as Itamar Ben-Gvir as national internal security minister. Or Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich spouting off on things about which he should know better and doesn’t. But let’s not blame the victims for the terror and rockets. Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran, an inept Palestinian leadership with a hateful street – they are to blame, not the government.

Usually, it’s the right-wing governments that muster support for the very difficult realpolitik choices, from Menachem Begin’s 1982 Sinai exit to Ariel Sharon’s 2005 Gaza disengagement. Even Binyamin Netanyahu’s 2021 peace deals with several Arab countries under the Abraham Accords. Unfortunately, Netanyahu’s current government may be too inexperienced and messianic to enable reasonable, democratic, liberal change – read judicial reform – at such a scale. But who knows.

We cannot despair. At a very esoteric level, Israelis have hope. In fact, hope is the theme of our national anthem, Hatikvah, The Hope.

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According to the World Happiness Report, published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Israel remains one of the happiest countries in the world. (See jewishindependent.ca/measuring-happiness.) Rising to fourth place in 2023, just behind Finland, Denmark and Iceland, Israel’s showing likely reflected its reputation as a “villa in the jungle,” as dubbed by former prime minister Ehud Barak – despite being in the Middle East, one of the most contentious spots … on the Risk board.

Bruce Brown is a Canadian and an Israeli. He made aliyah … a long time ago. He works in Israel’s high-tech sector by day and, in spurts, is a somewhat inspired writer by night. Brown is the winner of the 2019 AJPA Rockower Award for excellence in writing, and wrote the 1998 satire An Israeli is…. Brown reflects on life in Israel – political, social, economic and personal.

Whisky’s ready to be poured

Milk and Honey Distillery was established in 2012. (photo by Dave Gordon)

The Milk and Honey Distillery’s first three-year-old batch of whisky is about to be officially tapped, to appear in 150 locations across Israel, as well as the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. And plans are in the works to bring the product to North America. Current output is estimated at about a million bottles.

Milk and Honey’s founders sought to piggyback on what appears to be a trend of people wanting to try certain drinks from places that are not typically known for making them.

“Whisky consumption is seeing a big shift happening all over the world now,” Milk and Honey chief executive officer Eitan Attir told the Independent.

For decades, four countries have ruled the whisky industry – Ireland, Scotland, United States and Canada. But many customers are seeking uniqueness.

“It’s what we call a ‘new world’ whisky,” said Attir. “So, now you can find more and more countries, that never had a history of whisky, doing it.”

Proof of Israel’s new world whisky popularity was evident even before the first ounce of Milk and Honey’s product was officially available. In 2017, the distillery filled 391 bottles with its initial three-year-old whisky single malt. Head distiller Tomer Goren created the batch in his workshop, and it was aged in the distillery.

Bottles numbered 1 through 100 were sold on the Whisky Auctioneer website and more than 30,000 people bid on the bottles. The “number one” bottle was bought for $3,000 US and number two, about $2,500 US. The rest were sold for about $750 US each. Stock sold out in three months.

“That was a huge surprise, not only business-wise, but also the attention it got,” Attir said. Several media took notice: the New York Times, Boston Herald, CNBC and NBC, among others.

Fast forward a year to 2018, and the company’s “triple cask” – a combination of previously red wine, bourbon and Islay barreled whisky – won best in show and second place at Whisky Life Tel Aviv. Its competitors were 15-, 18- and 20-year-old beverages from many different popular brands.

How Milk and Honey got there was as much a blend of perfect ingredients as a premier blended whisky.

In 2012, the company was started by Gal Kalkshtein, Milk and Honey’s owner, and five friends, all previously in the Israeli tech and startup industry. With their million-dollar investment, the friends turned a former bakery into a distillery in 2014. (For more on the distillery, see jewishindependent.ca/israels-first-whisky-distillery.)

“We were the first ones here, so there really was no one to ask about how to build a distillery. So, they traveled all around Scotland and studied a lot,” said Gal Levin, manager of the visitor centre, who oversees business development.

Then came the parts: a tailor-made whisky pot still and a vintage still, each constructed in accordance with Scottish coppersmith tradition. The wash drum was found online, on a German website – it was sitting in a barn in Romania (Transylvania, to be exact).

“The guys traveled all the way there to see it and buy it,” said Levin. “They weren’t sure it was going to work. They bought it, brought it here, and fixed it. We still don’t know who made it and for what. It’s mysterious. It’s working, and that’s the most important thing.”

During renovations, they began tinkering with what recipes to use. In 2013, they hired two professionals. One was Scottish master distiller Dr. James Swan, who guided the company on research and development. His experience included advising distilleries and brands all over the world, from Jim Beam to Chivas. As well, he had expertise in aging and distilling in other hot climates, like Taiwan and India.

The second person hired was Goren, who was studying for his master’s distiller degree in Scotland. (He is also a judge at international whisky competitions.)

“We chose to adopt very strict regulations of the Scottish method, that allows us to connect with the Scottish tradition, and also so our whisky will be considered ‘whisky’ in many places around the world,” said Levin.

photo - Milk and Honey Distillery makes whisky, gin and a liqueur — Milk and Honey Distillery makes whisky, gin and a liqueur. *(photo by Dave Gordon)*

Whisky, by definition, is made with four ingredients: malted barley, yeast, water and the barrel. Milk and Honey maintains the tradition, with no added ingredients. Barrel selection included casks previously used for bourbon, a collection of new oak barrels, and former wine barrels (all kosher).

“We are aging for a minimum of three years before we call the product ‘whisky.’ That’s an important rule. Of course, in Scotland, the whisky is called ‘scotch.’ We don’t do that,” said Levin.

As an added plus, Israel’s climate allows for relatively quicker fermentation, up to two and a half times faster than that of Scotland, according to Milk and Honey. That means an Israeli three-year bottle might taste like a six-year bottle from the Highlands.

And Milk and Honey doesn’t only make whisky – they also produce gin and a liqueur.

The gin is spiced with and inspired by Israeli ingredients. The Levantine gin, for example, contains za’atar, orange slices, lemon peels, black pepper, cinnamon, chamomile and lemon verbena. The Roots liqueur has typical Holy Land flavourings: almond, savory, coriander, jasmine, tarragon, thyme and cardamom.

With all of this deliciousness, that’s something to say “l’chaim” to!

Dave Gordon is a Toronto-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in more than 100 publications around the world.

Israel’s first whisky distillery

Tours and tastings of Milk and Honey distillery can be booked on certain days. (photo by Ariel Fields)

Is a Bronfman family saga about to begin again? While it has a ways to go before reaching the heights of the once-mighty Seagram empire, Milk and Honey, Israel’s first whisky distillery, may one day have the last laugh. In the meantime, its young investors and workers seem to be having a good time.

I was raised to believe Jews don’t drink anything stronger than wine or the occasional beer. There were, of course, notable unexplained exceptions, as on Shabbat and holidays, when men drank schnapps or Slivovitz at the synagogue’s kiddush. My tasting and tour of Milk and Honey has forced me to change my thinking.

About four years ago, a small group of friends, all Israeli high-techies and entrepreneurs, got together to create Israel’s first whisky distillery. While it is a bit hard for me to comprehend people actually “dreaming” about starting a whisky business, don’t we attribute Herzl to saying, in 1902, “If you will it, it is no dream; and if you do not will it, a dream it is and a dream it will stay”? And this group did pick a pretty Zionist name for its company.

Located in south Tel Aviv, about a 15-minute walk from Old Jaffa, the physical plant is less than a half-block long. The building is basically divided into two sections, the liquor-making facility and the visitors centre. One section looks out on the other from a full-length no-secrets-here glass divider. Six people currently work at Milk and Honey.

As a newbie to whisky-making, I did not know that basically just three ingredients go into single malt whisky: malting barley, water and yeast. Milk and Honey uses Israeli-sourced water. The barley is imported from England’s Muntons company and then mashed at Milk and Honey. The rest of the process – the fermentation, distillation and maturing – also take place on-site.

Milk and Honey has an Israeli-made fermentation tank. One of its two stills is new, but the other was constructed in 1983. It has a capacity of 9,000 litres. To my way of thinking, copper would give the whisky a funny taste, but our guide said they purposely built the still from copper, in order to give the whisky a more delicate taste.

The whisky maturation room has an elaborate alarm system, especially against fires, as the whisky is stored in combustible, wooden barrels.

In big whisky-producing countries such as the United States, Ireland, Scotland and Japan, single malt whisky needs to sit in its cask (barrel) for three years. While lots of people complain about Tel Aviv’s high humidity and temperatures, these factors might ultimately be advantageous to this type of business. Estimates are that the heat and humidity will speed up Milk and Honey’s whisky maturation process, making it two to 2.5 times faster than the above countries’ products.

Still, it will be awhile before Milk and Honey single malt whisky is sold en masse in bottles. The company does plan, however, to market some kind of limited series, which will be periodically released over the next three years.

In the meantime, Milk and Honey has started selling a few types of other liquor, including one called New Make and another called Levantine Gin.

As its name implies, the New Make does not go through barrel aging; its chief use is apparently for cocktail-making. The Levantine Gin is noteworthy for its Middle East quality – it is made with za’atar, a Middle East plant with a thyme-like taste, and other botanicals purchased locally at Tel Aviv’s Levinsky Shuk (Market). While not mentioned by our in-house guide, the use of za’atar ties this liquor to ancient Jewish roots (no pun intended). Za’atar (or “eizov,” in Hebrew) is mentioned in the Torah: in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, and references are also made in Kings I and Psalms. Moreover, although he did not prescribe za’atar specifically for hangovers, 12th-century philosopher, astronomer and physician Maimonides (aka Rambam) prescribed za’atar for headaches.

Impressively, these two products have already won awards. Just the day before I visited Milk and Honey, the Levantine Gin had won a gold medal and the New Make a silver at the 2016 Terravino Mediterranean International Wine and Spirit Challenge. Not a bad start for a new company.

All of Milk and Honey’s liquor is certified kosher. Tours and tastings are available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays by prior arrangement. See mh-distillery.com/visit-our-distillery.

Deborah Rubin Fields is an Israel-based features writer. She is also the author of Take a Peek Inside: A Child’s Guide to Radiology Exams, published in English, Hebrew and Arabic.