![Milk and Honey Distillery]( "Milk and Honey Distillery")
Milk & Honey is the first single malt whisky distillery in Israel. The whisky will be made using the highest quality ingredients, the purest water and traditionally double distilled. With your help we'll make a fine, flavorful kosher single-malt to be proud of. If you will it, it's no dream!
![]()
Click here to read all the articles!
The Milk & Honey Distillery Story
Imagine a traditional, fine, single-malt whisky. We expect you to immediately think of Scotland or Ireland. Until about four years ago we did too. Now we’re building the first ever whiskey distillery in the land of Israel.
We’re the Milk & Honey Distillery and we’re going to make a traditional single-malt whisky. We will also make USA style whiskeys. You can play a big part in making it happen.
There is a growing movement
of world whiskeys and each one serves as an ambassador for its country of
origin. We want to create such an ambassador and make a (kosher) whiskey that Israel can be proud of. Making good whiskey takes a little patience but after 40 years in
the wilderness and another 2000 in exile, what’s a few years in a barrel?
There are some real ADVANTAGES to being in the Holy Land.
We know water technology:
For centuries, people around the world have
been yearning for the pure spiritual water of the Holy Land. The
Milk & Honey Distillery will produce an excellent quality whiskey using the
most special water in world. The water will be created through sophisticated reverse osmosis and then scientifically mineralised so as to play an optimal role in the quality taste of
the whiskey.
The climate:
The higher temperature in Israel will speed up the maturation process
in the barrels. You can expect an Israeli four year old to be at least as mature as a
Scottish ten year old. If you have had the good fortune to try Kavalan from Taiwan, or Amruth from India, you will have experienced this effect before. Great whisky made in warmer climates.
Why we need your help
You can help to create the first Israeli whisky distillery.
Starting a distillery and producing
world-class whiskeys is not easy. It
requires superb distilling equipment, as well as extensive experience and
professional knowledge. Fortunately, we’ve already accomplished most of this. Currently, we
have the equipment, the facilities and world-class professionals, but now we need
to start purchasing the right ingredients and more barrels to make our first
distillation runs.
Our project has excited people from around the
world. We have already received pre-orders from the USA, France, UK, Mexico, Germany, China,
India, Canada, Sweden and Italy. To be able to establish an Israeli single-malt
whiskey distillery we need to start out big enough to allow us to speak to
distributors and stores around the world. A little help from a lot of people can make all the difference.
Other distilleries have been launched this way. Supporters of the Mackmyra distillery in Sweden pre-ordered 10,000 eight gallon barrels and the distillery is now a national treasure. If Sweden can do it then what’s to say Israel can’t?
What we have achieved thus far:
We've formed a world-class team:
![]()
The Milk & Honey Distillery was started by a team of whiskey enthusiasts in 2012.The team of 6 come from a range of backgrounds including beer brewing, working for Scottish distilleries, food chemistry, IT systems, renewable energy and project management. Our skill set covers quality assurance, production, management, marketing and engineering.
We have rolled up our sleeves, stayed up late, opened our check-books and activated our networks to keep things going. We have made a lot of progress, and even though there have been some bureaucratic setbacks we started distilling in the first half of 2015. We presented our new-make straight from the stills at Whisky Live Tel Aviv 2015. It was very well received. You can check us out on Facebook, Instagram, or follow our progress on Twitter.
We have a leading Master Distiller:
Dr. James Swan is from Glasgow and probably the world's finest Master Distiller.
There is simply no-one else with his level of experience and understanding of the production of whiskey. Fortunately for us, Jim is the leading expert on whiskey production in warmer climates.
His unique knowledge of whiskey-making means distillers around the world are queuing up for his services. We are fortunate to be joining the likes of Kilchoman, Penderyn, Glenmorangie, Suntory, Jim Beam, Makers Mark and Kavalan in benefiting from his unique knowledge and abilities. As Jim says, “Cask maturation is equivalent to the metamorphosis of a caterpillar to a butterfly.” Under his supervision the distillery will produce something truly special!
We've purchased and installed Copper Stills & Distillery equipment:
The Milk & Honey Distillery is committed to staying true to the most traditional whiskey making craft. We have purchased the highest quality hand-made copper whiskey stills.
![M&H Distillery Wash Still]( "M&H Distillery Wash Still")
At the heart of any true whiskey distillery are the copper pot stills. We will work according to the traditional batch-by-batch process. Each batch we make will be carefully made by hand and supervised by experts.
Our 10,000L wash still: is a traditional Scottish style pot still, handcrafted using 100% copper. It will perform the first distillation run, known as the wash run. At more than twenty one feet tall, it is a beautiful sight.
![]()
![]()
Our 3800L spirit pot still: We selected Carl Coppersmiths, a fifth generation specialist distillery maker to hand-make our copper spirit still. The spirit still design has been developed by our master distiller Dr. James Swan together with Carl’s experts. It will put the finishing touch to a wonderfully clear, fresh, flavorful distillate.
![]()
We've secured an ideal location & finished building:
The distillery is in Tel Aviv and not far from the old port of Jaffa. We have designed our distillery to be environmentally responsible and are working on ways to use renewable energy. Preparation of the distillery and visitor center will be completed by the beginning of 2016.
We're building a visitor center where we can teach how fine whiskey is made. We also want to teach about drinking responsibly. We want to make sure our product or any quality spirit is savored and respected. We do not want to encourage alcohol abuse, we want to fight it.
What are we going to do with the money from this ongoing crowdfunding round?
Only the best
quality raw materials will do for our whiskey. We will source the finest malted
barley that can be had and carefully ferment and distill it to achieve a
traditional flavorful distillate.
- Purchase excellent quality barrels
To
make a fine whiskey it is crucial to select the right barrels. As much as 70%
of the flavor is due to aging in the barrel. We have access to fantastic
barrels but they aren’t easy to get hold of and they don’t come cheap!
![]()
For the distillery to work as intended it's best to make full distillery batches and we are hoping to let our our supporters get their hands on whisky/whiskey from the early batches. The more support we get, the stronger Israel's first whiskey distillery will be. It would be amazing to be in a position to speak to distributors and stores from a position of strength!
What we will be making?
