M&H Apex Kosher Ex-PX Sherry Single Cask Single Malt Whisky Cask #2018-0900
M&H Apex Ex-PX Sherry Single Cask Single Malt Whisky #2018-0900
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Data
Sheet |
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Owner: |
M&H |
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Barcode: |
7290109232416 |
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Price: |
Around NIS 560, £120 in the UK |
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Alcohol: |
56.9% abv |
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Age |
3 Years and 9 Months |
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Single Cask No.: |
Kosher Ex-PX Cask No. "2018-0900" |
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Bottle
No. |
460/544 |
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Distillation
Date: |
12/08/2018 |
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Bottling
Date: |
12/05/2022 |
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Chill-Filtered: |
No |
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Natural Colour: |
Yes |
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Kashrus Issues: |
None |
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Kosher Certification: |
Star-K |
In this article I include a personal apology to M&H
Introduction
M&H (Milk & Honey) has
three ranges (not including their Distillery Exclusive bottlings).
This is their core-range series consisting of their “Elements Sherry Cask”, “Elements Red Wine”, “Elements Pomegranate” and “Elements Peated”. Despite their titles, (as far as I know), they are actually all marriages of different type casks (including Ex-Bourbon and STR Wine casks) vatted with (presumably) the more dominant Cask type that justifies its name. In the case of the Sherry”, it would be both Kosher Oloroso and Kosher Pedro Ximénez Casks. All are bottled at 46% abv, Natural Colour and Non-Chill-Filtered which makes them all “Integrity” bottlings. As their baseline range, they offer excellent quality and price, compared to the equivalent Integrity Scotch Single Malts from the Likes of Arran (Lochranza), Deanston, Kilchoman, Bruichladdich etc. Prices are under NIS 300.
Art And Craft Series
These whiskies are M&H’s
experimental series where they try out some weird and wonderful cask types to
mature their spirit in. So far in the series, there’s been Kosher Madeira Wine
Cask, Recioto Wine cask, Tokaji Hungarian Cask, White Port Cask etc. Obviously,
some casks will work better than others but that’s the fun of this series.
Prices are between NIS 350 an NIS 450, depending on the rarity of the Casks used.
The Apex Series
The “APEX” series is M&H’s
Premium Single Cask and Small Batch bottling series. They are all bottled at
Cask Strength and of course, Natural Colour and Non-Chill-Filtered.
M&H have released too
many of these limited editions to list but they include the Apex [Kosher]
Cognac Cask, [Kosher] White Cask, Pomegranate Wine Casks Small Batch, [Kosher]
Fino Sherry Cask, “Dead Sea” Cask, [Kosher] Peated STR Cask, [Kosher] Fortified
Wine Cask, Orange Wine Cask, Tequila Cask, Ex-Alba Cask, Ex-Rye Cask.
Prices are between NIS 450 and
NIS 580, depending upon the rarity of the casks used for maturation.
Apex Kosher Ex-Sherry Cask Bottlings
Of particular interest to me are
the [Kosher] First-Fill Ex-Oloroso Sherry Cask, the [Kosher] First-Fill Pedro Ximénez (PX) Casks, the Peated [Kosher] Oloroso Cask and the Peated [Kosher]
Pedro Ximénez (PX) Cask Editions. Why? Because, like heavily Peated Islay
Single Malts, Ex-Sherry Cask Matured Single Malts have a cult following within
the Whisky World. Unlike Heavily Peated Islay Single Malts, Ex-Sherry Cask
Matured Single Malt Whisky has never been available to the strictly kosher
whisky consumer, until now!
Now, some readers might ask themselves, what’s the point of a review of a whisky from the Apex Single Cask series when by the time I come to read it, the Limited Edition bottling will in all likelihood have already sold out and long gone from the shelves? To them I say, “Don’t Panic”!
M&H have Baruch Hashem,
lots of similar Sherry casks which they will Be’ezrat Hashem, be
bottling on a regular basis. So, like a London bus, there’s no need to worry if
you miss this one, there’ll be another one along soon.
Name Change - Out with Milk
& Honey and in with M&H
It always used to annoy me that
the name “Milk & Honey” was spelt* in Hebrew as “מילק אן האני”, the phonetic
spelling of the English, instead of the actual Hebrew from where the original term
comes from in Devarim 31:20.
* British English spelling: past tense of “spell” and spelt the
same as “spelt”, the name of the grain.
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31:20 When I [G-d] bring them to the land which I
have sworn to their forefathers [to give them], a land flowing with milk
and honey, they will eat and be satisfied… |
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כ כִּֽי־אֲבִיאֶ֜נּוּ אֶל־הָֽאֲדָמָ֣ה | אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּ֣עְתִּי
לַֽאֲבֹתָ֗יו זָבַ֤ת חָלָב֙ וּדְבַ֔שׁ וְאָכַ֥ל
וְשָׂבַ֖ע... |
In my opinion, they should have called the distillery חָלָב֙ וּדְבַ֔שׁ “Chalav U’Devash” in the first place. I don’t accept the argument that most English speakers can’t pronounce the Hebrew guttural “Ch” sound. For instance, English speaking News agencies when reporting on the war, refer to the famous Israeli tank as the “Mer-Kava”, instead of “Mer-Chava”. מרכבה meaning “Chariot”. However, the way that they pronounce it sounds like the Hebrew word מקווה which means “hope” in the feminine form. (That’s also not a bad name for a tank).
The reason I don’t accept this argument is that there are plenty of Scottish
distilleries and Scotch Whisky brands with difficult to pronounce Gaelic names,
some of which have the same guttural sound as in Hebrew, and no one seems to
complain about them. Examples being Bruichladdich pronounced “BruiCh-Laddi”
or Kilchoman pronounced “Kil-Chomunn”, with a guttural “Ch”. Most
people would pronounce them as “Bruik-laddi” or “KilHomunn” and there’s nothing
wrong with that.
So why this branding change? it seems that the guys at the distillery also came to the conclusion that calling their distillery “Milk & Honey” (even in Hebrew) was not such a good idea (so the story goes), as their marketing “experts” thought that most people don’t associate the term “Milk and Honey” with a whisky distillery named after G-d’s promise of the Land of Israel to the Jewish people, but instead think that it’s a manufacturer of liqueurs containing honey and cream.
So, they have decided to no
longer call the distillery “Milk & Honey” but instead now want to be known
by their initials of “M&H” for its branding. However, I could be alone in
this thinking but it now sounds (at least to me), too much like a clothes
store. You’ve got the famous British Clothes department store - Marks and
Spencer, better known as “M&S”. When I mentioned this to my daughter, she
immediately said that people would confuse it with the famous Swedish Clothes
Store called H&M.
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| Mock up of a Chalav U'DeVash bottle |
Branding can be a tricky thing
sometimes. I would have gone for “Chalav U’Devash” myself, but what do I
know?
What do M&H and Cotswolds
Distilleries have in common?
Despite not yet writing a review of any of their products, I do love what’s coming out of Cotswolds Distillery and was very impressed with the distillery visitors’ centre when we visited a few years ago. It’s only a couple of hours drive from my parents’ home in England and is highly recommended as an excellent whisky experience. Besides, the whole Cotswolds region is a must visit for any tourist.
They actually do quite a few
Single Malts which are suitable for the strictly kosher consumer including
their Peated Cask, Bourbon Cask and absolutely delicious Calvados Cask. What’s
more, the quality of their Single Malts is right up there with the best of
them. The three Single Malts I bought at the distillery were all bottled at 59%
abv or higher. I’d say that that the Cotswold Calvados Cask is the best
Calvados Cask matured Single Malt I’ve ever tasted, beating Deanston, Glenmorangie
and others hands down.
I brought these bottles of Cotswolds Single Malt whisky back from England with me and have them in my cocktail cabinet. I really should get around to writing a review of them. It’s also great news that their whisky is now available here in Israel.
(When I do
eventually write a review, I’ll Be’ezras Hashem talk about what I thought could have been a possible
problem of Mechiras Chametz on the whisky, because a bit of Googling seems to indicate that the founder and CEO - Daniel Szor, is probably Jewish).
So, to all you Whisky Geeks out
there, when I ask what M&H and Cotswolds distilleries have in common, you’d
probably scream out “Dr Jim Swan”!
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| Dr. Jim Swan |
The late Dr Jim Swan was one of
Scotland’s greatest Cask Management experts. He was responsible for creating
the “house style” for many of the new whisky distilleries built in the last 20
years, not just in Scotland (such as Kilchoman distillery), but around the
world, including Cotswolds in England, Kavalan in Taiwan and of course Milk
& Honey, sorry, I mean M&H in Israel.
I was watching an excellent video
all about the Cotswolds distillery on “The Whisky Baron” YouTube channel.
Inside
Cotswolds Distillery: The Rise of English Whisky
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5lOHf0IoeY&t=3s
I was quite surprised when, right
at the beginning, when asked a question about their highly fruity and textured
house-style, the brand ambassador made a direct comparison to the M&H
distillery in Tel Aviv. Doing a Google Search, I see that the two distilleries
have even collaborated on a joint whisky project to honour the late Jim Swan.
See article “English producer
Cotswolds Distillery has partnered with Israeli whisky maker Milk & Honey
(M&H) to create a blended malt in commemoration of Dr Jim Swan.”
https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2024/07/cotswolds-and-mh-honour-jim-swan/
The Cotswolds’ House-Style
Cotswolds distillery’s sweet
fruity medium bodied house-style reminds me very much of the style of a Scottish
Highlands Distillery. In a blind tasting, I’d probably mistake it for something
like Glencadam.
We often talk about the flavour
profiles of the different regions in Scotland and also about the
triple-distilled pot-still style of Irish whiskies. But is there actually a
uniquely English style of whisky? Moreover, is Cotswolds distillery’s house
style uniquely “English”?
The same question can obviously
be asked of Israeli made whisky and in particular, M&H.
In my opinion, the answer is No!
I do not think that Cotswold has a unique English Whisky style and don’t think
that such a thing even exists. Moreover, I cannot say that M&H has a uniquely
Israeli flavour profile either. It was in fact the late Dr Jim Swan who is
responsible for creating the House-Style for both Cotswolds and M&H
distilleries. That to me is what they most have in common.
I am not saying that Cotswolds
and M&H taste the same. I am saying though that they both share the same
Jim Swan “Whisky DNA”. Obviously, since that time, both distilleries have continued
to develop their own distillery flavour-styles but my point is, that it has
little to do with any “terroir” - regional or national flavour profile and
everything to do with Jim Swans’ initial base-profile he gave to both
distilleries. I have no proof for this, but I suspect that the owners of
M&H asked Jim Swan to try and recreate a Speyside style for them. (Just my
opinion).
Now, I Have a Sincere Apology
to Make to M&H.
For many years, I have criticised
M&H for trying to make, in my opinion, “the best Scotch (style) Whisky
possible in Israel”, instead of trying to make Israeli Whisky with a unique
character. I think this comes from my familiarity to the other Israeli
distillery, “Golani”, owned by David Zibell. I believe that Golani
whisky does have a uniquely Israeli flavour profile. However, I have come to realise
that perhaps the unique myrtle leaves and eucalyptus herbal style of Golani
whisky has more to do with David Zibell’s maverick way of making whisky and his
use of (wherever possible) locally made equipment and locally sourced raw ingredients
and casks. It is true to say though, that traveling around the Golan Heights,
the aroma of “hadasim” (myrtle leaves) and eucalyptus is very common.
I have however recently changed my mind and reached the conclusion that it was totally unfair of me to compare M&H to the tiny boutique craft Golani distillery and that my criticisms of M&H not being “Israeli” enough were misplaced and undeserved.
What’s more, whilst voicing this
criticism publicly for years, I nevertheless (some would say hypocritically) continued
to regularly drive to the distillery in Tel Aviv to buy bottles of M&H Single
cask [genuine] Kosher Ex-Sherry PX and Oloroso Single Malt whisky in order to
present them at my Kosher Whisky Tasting evenings both here in Israel and in
the UK.
A central feature of my Whisky
Tasting evenings is using The M&H Ex-Sherry PX and Oloroso bottlings to
show that you can absolutely recognise not just a vague taste of sherry in the
whisky, but the dominance of the sherry flavour over everything else and the ability,
with only a few minutes practice to actually be able to tell the type of sherry,
that is, PX or Oloroso as well as the difference between PX Sherry and Port
style fortified wine, just by smelling and tasting.
This is directly due to the
specific governing flavour which is transferred into the whisky from a
First-Fill Ex-Sherry Cask. These demonstrations are done, thanks to the efforts
of M&H, in a 100% kosher environment. They have been working very hard all
these years to produce these special Sherry casks under kosher supervision in
Spain, to re-produce Ex-Sherry Cask Matured Single Malt Whisky in the style of
Scottish distilleries such as GlenDronach, Glengyle, Glenfarclas, Macallan and
many others, who all specialise in using Ex-Sherry Casks.
So, I was not only personally enjoying drinking these whiskies but also benefiting from them by making use of them in my Whisky Tasting evenings because of the very thing I was chiding M&H for. That is, making simply excellent kosher versions of particularly Ex-Sherry Cask matured Single Malt Whisky, both Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez that can be compared with the very best that Scotland has to offer.
Moreover, even saying that M&H has no Israeli yichus (inherited character), is not exactly accurate, and I’m not even talking about the special Jewish Festival releases they put out such as for Rosh Hashana, or even the very special edition they released to commemorate the "October 7th" Massacre, proceeds going to the victims' families. I’m actually referring to the fact that they are making use of Kosher Wine Casks from local Israeli wineries and that they are also producing Single Malt Whisky matured in Israeli Rimonim (Pomegranate wine) casks. These are absolutely unique to Israel (as well as delicious). Now, you can’t get much more uniquely “Israeli” than Ex-Rimonim Wine Cask matured Single Malts, can you?
So, I want to express my sincere apologies to M&H. I take back what I said and as part of my “teshuva”, intend bli neder, to publish a number of M&H reviews in the near future. I have already begun with the Pomegranate Wine Cask and now, without further ado, I’ll review this Apex Ex-PX Sherry Cask.
M&H Apex Ex-PX Sherry
Single Cask Single Malt Whisky Cask No.2018-0900
The Kosher Sherry casks are
produced in the Bodega Del Pino, Jerez in the South of Spain, under strict
supervision of local Mashgichim, working on behalf of AKO member “Star-K”
(not to be confused with the “Triangle-K” who are NOT AKO members).
Packaging And Artwork
I mentioned in the last M&H review I wrote, quite a few years ago now, that I have a serious problem with the overall package design styling.
In my opinion, it looks far too similar to Auchentoshan and believe me, being compared to them is not a good thing! I much preferred the original M&H bottle designs. The bottle shape was unique and certainly stood out on the shelf. Isn’t that what you want at the end of the day?
Changing to a bottle and box design that looks like an entry-level Scotch Single Malt brand cannot be doing them any favours. Ah, I’m sure that those at M&H will point out all the design differences between Auchentoshan and M&H but I’m sorry, it really does look too similar and cheapens the brand, in my opinion.
Tasting Notes
Two words of caution. Like
people, don’t judge this whisky solely upon first acquaintance. We call this
the “neck pour”. Sometimes a whisky can be absolutely superb straight from the
very first drop of the first neck pour. A perfect example of this is the Glen
Scotia 7-Year-Old Single Cask Israel Exclusive. Be’ezrat Hashem, more on
this bottle soon.
However, upon first opening this M&H PX Sherry Cask, along with the lovely dark red fruity flavours there was a distinct fresh mint leaf note on the palate, which I was not expecting and did not particularly care for. How interesting that Tomer Goren, Master Blender at M&H makes reference to this "green" flavour in his personal tasting notes in the inside label on the box. He talks of "...ground cloves with a hint of sap". I don't know about you, but I can't see how "sap" could ever be a positive flavour note, conjuring up associations of being highly bitter to the point of giving a puckering (bitter astringency), sensation on the tongue and around the gums, similar to a high tannins red wine.
But to me, the sensation was a lot milder than that. It sort of reminded me of Blackcurrant and Mint Toothpaste, if such a thing exists?
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| Oh, I see it does exist! Blackcurrant & Mint Toothpaste! |
I’m very happy to report however, that the slightly astringent fresh green minty toothpaste element completely disappeared within a few days of opening. You see here a perfect example of the positive effects of what a little bit of oxidation can do for a whisky.
I’ve heard of slight sulphury (like rotten eggs
or volcano smells) upon first opening Ex-Sherry Cask Matured Single Malts but
never fresh minty toothpaste.
Please drink Responsibly
The second word of caution is,
despite this bottle of Ex-PX Sherry cask matured Single Malt being ultra sweet
and actually quite drinkable poured straight from the bottle, it is all too
easy to forget that it’s bottled at Cask Strength 56.9% abv. Because of its
intense sweetness, one can very easily make the mistake of not adding enough
(or even any) water to the glass. Then you wonder why the room has suddenly
started spinning around?
A few sips are ok but, in my
opinion, drinking a significant amount of Ex-Sherry/Port style matured whisky
at this very high abv is not conducive to the midos of a “frum”
Jew. I have unfortunately witnessed too many times, guys, ignoring my repeated warnings
and drinking two or even more drams of Cask Strength Single Malts only to end
up becoming shichor and making fools of themselves and or becoming ill. As they say on the label, “Please drink
Responsibly”, and that especially goes for someone who considers himself a Yiras
Shomayim Orthodox Jew. Be aware and don't do it! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Appearance
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| PX Sherry |
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| PX Sherry |
The above picture shows the colour of the three main Sherry Types, Fino, Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez (PX). Then more pictures of PX Sherry. As you can see, the colour of the M&H Ex-PX Cask looks pretty much like its wine namesake.
I have never owned a Single Malt Whisky that was natural colour and this dark before. I’d describe the colour as a glorious dark golden brown like Date Syrup, Burnt English toffee or Old English Cough Syrup.
Viscosity is high. Very high. It’s
not quite the consistency of sticky date syrup but getting there.
At almost 57% abv, after a gentle
swirl around my Glencairn Copita glass, the whisky sticks to the inside
of the glass like blobs of treacle. I usually talk about "tears" or "legs" when referring to those streaks of alcohol that line the inside of a whisky glass after swirling the contents around a few times, but this whisky produces more
like clusters of globules in a vertical row.
Aroma
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| Add Water |
Even without water added, the
syrupy fructose sweetness hits your nose immediately. Like sticking your head
in a jar of freshly made cherry and blackcurrant jam or a saucepan of sweetened stewed
dark fruit. Adding water actually intensifies these wonderful sweet red and dark fruity aromas. As mentioned above, it is not just recommended to add water but in my opinion, a necessity.
Dark chocolate with those cherry liquor centres. Stewed prunes, dates, figs, cherries and raisins. A hint of roasted coffee, coffee and chocolate drinking powder. Candied Glazed Orange Citrus and Cloves, soft Black Pepper and black liquorice cough syrup. Wet Dark Wood stain varnish and honey.
Tasting
From start to finish, the absolute most dominant flavour by far is that of ultra-sweet Port Style Wine, quite obviously from the influence of the First-Fill Pedro Ximénez Sherry Casks (dah!). I challenge anyone to argue otherwise!
It's so prevalent that one might be forgiven for thinking that you are drinking a Port Style Wine if it wasn't for the very noticeable high spirit alcohol. Fortified Wine/Port or Sherry is typically between 18-20% abv, and this is clearly far more than that. I'd describe it as the alcohol experience of a French Brandy with the texture and taste of a Fortified Red Wine.
The influence of the malted barley (which after all, is the main ingredient in Malt Whisky), is minimal, adding only cake or pie texture. With Ex-Bourbon Barrel matured Single Malts the influence of malted barley is almost always present in the aroma and taste. This takes the form of barley porridge flavours or digestive or tea-biscuit flavours. Sometimes you get lovely breakfast cereal flavour notes like Sugar Puffs or Shredded Wheat and sometimes you might even get a fresh field crunchy barley taste. However, the overwhelming flavour influence of the fresh sherry with this whisky is such that it pretty much wipes out any of the more subtle grain flavours you usually get from Single Malt Whisky.
After your palate adjusts to the intense sweetness, you can begin to pick out different types of fruit flavours. There is Stewed Prunes, Blackcurrants, Black Cherries, Dark Chocolate, Honey, Glazed
Citrus, Steamed Mincemeat Pudding and Mincemeat pies, Spices, chocolate Yeast
Cake with raisins. It's like a rich dessert in liquid form.
What is Mincemeat? I could
be wrong but I believe that mincemeat pies are not very common outside of
British Commonwealth countries so some explanation for Americans is called for.
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| Note: Although many Wilkin & Sons products are Kosher Certified, as far as I am aware, their Mincemeat is not. |
Finish
Stewed Dried Berries in syrup, Honey,
Dates, Figs, Raisin Cake, Dark Chocolate, Expresso Coffee with Brown Sugar, Chocolates
with Glazed Cherries.
Conclusions
At NIS 558, these Apex Ex-Sherry Single Malts are by any objective standards, not cheap, but, in my opinion, when you consider just how special these bottles are and the trouble and expense that M&H and Star-K go to in order to produce these kosher wonders, they represent simply excellent value for money. Moreover, if you were still left in any doubt, this PX Cask Single Malt is also incredibly delicious and frankly, can get quite addictive.
First-Fill Ex-Sherry Cask Single Malt Whisky first entered the mainstream whisky market way back in the late 1980s. I have to thank M&H for giving the strictly kosher whisky lover the opportunity for the first time to experience and enjoy this extremely popular category of whisky, affectionately known as the “Sherry Bomb”.
The Yetzer Hara
No wonder people go completely meshugah over this class of whisky and I can now fully appreciate why some whisky drinkers, especially those with a sweet tooth, once having tried this category of whisky, can get totally addicted to it, unable or unwilling to drink anything else.
It's just my personal observation but this may well explain the extremely belligerent reaction one often gets from some Orthodox Jews who have become hooked on these Sherry Bombs, when you try and explain to them why according to many (most?) Poskim, Whisky matured in Fresh First-Fill Ex-Sherry Casks, which looks like wine, smells like wine and tastes like wine, actually has really serious kashrus issues, not covered by the heterim (halachic leniences) that have traditionally been used to permit all Scotch Whisky, without exception up until now.
People have been relying upon these heterim for decades in order to allow drinking their beloved Glendronach, Macallan, Dalmore, Glengoyne, Aberlour, Glenfarclas etc. There are sound reasons to argue that these heterim are not actually applicable and pertinent to these flavour extreme Sherry Bombs after all. However, these sound arguments often fall on deaf ears, due (in my opinion), to "The Yetzer Hara" factor. They have become just too emotionally attached to their favourite Sherry Cask matured dram. Perhaps, M&H have just provided a solution for this?
How Do They Compare to Scotch Sherry Bombs?
I have been reliably informed by non-Jewish whisky enthusiasts and reviewers that these Kosher M&H Ex-Sherry Cask Matured Single Malts are very good examples of the Sherry-Bomb category displaying typical tasting notes of the type.
Over the past few weeks, I have been building up a collection of M&H Apex and Distillery bottlings of Ex-Sherry Single Malt Whiskies, including Ex-Oloroso, Ex-Pedro Ximénez, both Non-Peated and Peated examples. I cannot tell you how much I have been thoroughly enjoying sampling them all. It's been a real treat.
Be’ezras Hashem, I’ll be reviewing other M&H Single Malts in this series soon including Ex-Oloroso Sherry as well as the Peated versions.
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