Single Malt

Review: Milk & Honey Islay Cask Single Malt Whisky /  by Jason Hambrey

ABV
 56.5%
Aging
 Ex-Islay cask
Recipe
 100% Malted Barley
Distiller Milk & Honey (Tel Aviv, Israel)

Another young single malt from milk & honey distillery, aged in an Islay cask and bottled at cask strength. There seem to be a fair number of Islay casks lying around these days.

Review (2021)

  • Batch: N/A

  • Bottling Code: N/A

  • Bottling Date: 2019

Yes, an islay cask indeed – big earthy and vegetal notes, light smoke, burning earth, chickpeas, and still with dried herbs like mint. Toffee, too – with pear, apple, vanilla, hay, black pepper. The palate is rich, and full – with a particular emphasis on mixed dried herbs, smoke, black pepper – and the baking spices and smoke just dominate the finish. The tannins on the finish, mixed with the sweetness, smoke, earth, and nuttiness are fantastic.

Highly Recommended (50% of all whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Review: Milk & Honey Classic Single Malt Whisky /  by Jason Hambrey

ABV
 46%
Aging
 3 yrs; Ex-bourbon and STR wine casks
Recipe
 100% Malted Barley
Distiller Milk & Honey (Tel Aviv, Israel)

This is a young single malt, but it’s another warm-climate whisky where the angel’s share is about 10-12% a year and the aging, in some ways, happens faster.

Review (2021)

  • Batch: N/A

  • Bottling Code: N/A

  • Bottling Date: ~2020

The whisky has really come along here- toffee, oak, vanilla, and lots of baking spices. There is a really nice pear note that is very well integrated, and the floral character that is present from the new make and younger versions really comes out too.

It does well with a bit of water too – overall it’s fairly light as a single malt and it’s clean and very deliberate in how it presents its flavours. I’m pretty impressed! I find something unique in the way that the oak is present in the whisky – similar to rums or whiskies aged in other climates where the oak presence feels thicker and deeper than in other climates (while not necessarily being more tannic). That’s the case here.

I must say, I’m very pleasantly surprised! It’s hard to do better with a single malt at 3 years of age.

Recommended (81% of all whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Value: Lower end of average at $90.

Review: Milk & Honey Young Single Malt /  by Jason Hambrey

ABV
 46%
Aging
 STR Wine Cask
Recipe
 100% Malted Barley
Distiller Milk & Honey (Tel Aviv, Israel)

M+H’s new make is very interesting -herbal with hay, a rich barley character, and a unique evolution on the palate – it starts oily, rich, and grainy and then it goes spicy, floral, with orchard fruit which lead into a nice fruity finish. It very much has two phases. What happens when you stick it in a hot warehouse for a couple years in an STR cask? This.

Review (2021)

  • Batch: N/A

  • Bottling Code: N/A

  • Bottling Date: ~2020

The nose is quite clean, and very advanced for the age- I suppose the hot maturation conditions probably helps with that. Lots of oak, vanilla, banana chips, dried flower notes, lots of oak – toasted and charred notes, pear, almond and nice herbal notes – mint and hay. Even at this age, the oak is approaching total domination – on the side of sweet oaky notes and tannins. However, it’s fine as is. The finish is nice – prunes, dried fruit, toffee, and oak. The tannins are nice and nuttiness tends to grow.

There are very few single malts that taste this good at less than 3 years of age.

Review: Shelter Point Double Barreled Canadian Whisky /  by Jason Hambrey

Image courtesy of Shelter Point Distillery.

Image courtesy of Shelter Point Distillery.

ABV
 50%
Aging
 6 yrs; American Oak; Wine Finish
Recipe
 100% Malted Barley
Distiller Shelter Point (Vancouver Island, British Columbia)

Shelter Point double barreled some of their whisky in French oak wine casks - here is something unique! This was after about 6 years in American oak.

Review (2018)

  • Batch: N/A

  • Bottling Code: N/A

  • Bottling Date: 2017

Finished in blackberry wine casks.

Coconut, vanilla, caramel, pineapple, and rich orchard fruit and sharp baking spice. Big on the palate – spicy, rich, and full of grain and milk chocolate notes even amidst all the fruit sitting overtop. Lots of rich dried fruit, particularly apricot – frankly, it’s remarkable how well the apricot fits in. The finish rides on a wave of vanilla. My favorite Shelter Point to date. It doesn’t have the finish of some of the artisanal cask finishes but it brings a whole lot to the table…

Highly Recommended (48% of all whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Value: Average, based on $80.

Review (2019)

  • Batch: 2018

  • Bottling Date: 2018

  • Bottling Code: N/A

Finished in blackberry wine casks.

Toffee, broad grain notes, marzipan, and apple juice – yet still with lots of oak, dried fruit, and berries. There is a really great nuttiness shining through, complemented nicely by the oak. It is sweet, easy, and fruity – both fresh fruit and dried fruit, with a bit more emphasis on dried fruit – both stone fruit and raisins and currants. Excellent, and even a touch better than last year!

Highly Recommended (48% of all whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Value: Average, based on $80.

Review (2019)

  • Batch: 2018

  • Bottling Date: 2018

  • Bottling Code: N/A

Aged for 5.5 years in American oak before being finished for 335 days in quail’s gate pinot noir casks - we’re now not in blackberry cask territory.

This whisky opens with a terrific nose - really nice rich, fruity notes, raisins, red currants, cardamom, sour notes, green apple, baking spices, and great oak. Light shelter point barley characteristics. Lightens up nicely with time. Really opens up with water. The taste is slightly salty, with currants and loads of fruit and tannins – but there are some really nice malty and toffee notes as well. It is very savoury. The finish is winey, thick, and spicy – with some roasted grain notes. Nice body on the finish.

I really like it! It is a departure from before – it has more wine, fruit, and richness. The blackberry releases previously were a bit spicier. I like this version even more.

Highly Recommended (49% of all whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Value: Average, based on $80. But it’s above average if we’re just looking at Canadian single malts.

Review (2019)

  • Batch: 2019

  • Bottling Date: 2019

  • Bottling Code: N/A

Finished in Quail’s Gate foch wine casks.

Raisins, vanilla, hazlenuts, some really nice floral notes (geranium!), clove, orange peel, and that slightly tangy character in shelter point malts. The nose opens nicely with time – it rewards patience, and more complexity slowly seeps out.

The whisky has a nice body on the palate, with orange and a nice mix of dried fruit, sweetness, and spice. A nice savoury character on the palate, too. I like this with a few drops of water. Opens up some of the dense character. The finish has nice oak, vanilla, dried fruit, baking spice, and pearl barley.

Compared to last year’s pinot noir cask, this is spicier, nuttier, and oilier and isn’t quite as well rounded. It tastes a bit harsher. The last three double barrels have been really good – from blackberry, to pinot, to foch. If anyone chances to have all three, it would make for a great side by side.

Highly Recommended (50% of all whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Value: Average, based on $80. But it’s above average if we’re just looking at Canadian single malts.

Review (2021)

  • Batch: 2021

  • Bottling Date: 2021

  • Bottling Code: N/A

This is my favourite “standard release” of Shelter point that’s been around for a while (this is now the fifth release). They are all a bit varied but all of high quality – I think it’s one of the best single malts in Canada, as far as regular releases go. The single malt is aged for 6 years before being finished for 99 days in blackberry casks.

The nose is rich and spicy: cacao, hibiscus, dried berries, cinnamon, cardamom, prune, dried cherry, berries, apples, wine gums and sharp oak.  The palate continues with the richness – big fruity and oaky character but also some sesame, dried peach, and wet earth. There is a light acidity that really accentuates the flavours. The finish is big – first spicy, then fruity, then oaky. Slightly oily, in a very appealing way. Lots of movement on the finish.

Nice to see another blackberry cask. I did like some of the pinot noir finishes they did, but I really like how the blackberry meshes with Shelter Point’s whisky. Excellent stuff.

Very Highly Recommended (19% of all whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Value: High at $85.

Review: Two Brewers Peated Yukon Single Malt Canadian Whisky /  by Jason Hambrey

Image courtesy of Two Brewers, photographed by Michal Kostal.

Image courtesy of Two Brewers, photographed by Michal Kostal.

ABV
 43%
Aging
 7-8 yrs
Recipe
 100% Malted Barley
Distiller Two Brewers (Whitehorse, Yukon)

A bit of a rarity- you don't often see Canadian peated whisky! This, however, gets its smoke from UK sourced peated barley. Canadian peat has been used in quite a few distilleries in the states, but for now it seems Canada is still looking to the UK for their peating demands.

Review (2017)

  • Batch: Release 03

  • Bottling Code: N/A

  • Bottling Date: 2016

1750 bottles released. Fruity, and rich – guava, candied apple and pear – and still a bit of a spicy background alongside cacao, smoke, peat, leather, and dried apricot. Lots of pear. Develops a bit more broadly with time. On the palate, continues with pear, smoke, peat, cacao, dried apricot and peach - but arugula and spice start to sweep in! It finishes with more candy, caramel, smoke, and spice.

Recommended (81% of whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Value: Average. Good whisky, but starts to compete with the other best $100 whiskies.

Review (2017)

  • Batch: Release 07

  • Bottling Code: N/A

  • Bottling Date: 2017

The only gold winning medal from a micro-distillery at the Canadian whisky awards. Quite remarkable!

The nose is smoky – lots of it - with some nice minerality and medicinal notes – while also being bright with terrific earthy notes. Vegetal and rich – dry straw, white pepper, ripe yellow apple, young leather...

The palate starts with limestone and rich orchart fruit – apples, pears, and ripe peach - closing out with smoke and a burst of wet earth. The finish remains on the earthy, smoky notes with some roasted malt too. Eventually it fades to malt and the enduring fruit – pear, apple, pineapple. I don’t know if I’ve ever encountered a peaty whisky which integrated such bright fruit. Impressive.

It has just a terrific collapse of smoke, minerality, and peaty earthiness with an earthiness from the barley malt. Just terrific. Smokier than batch 03.

Very Highly Recommended (18% of all whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Value: Average. Good whisky, but starts to compete with the other best $100 whiskies.

Review (2019)

  • Batch: Release 12

  • Bottling Code: N/A

  • Bottling Date: 2018

An earthy nose which has smoke, spicy earthiness, vanilla, and dried fruit. The palate carries through the peat, but offsets the flavour with some rich grain (think whole, mixed grain cereal like red river) and dried stone and tropical fruit – dried peach, papaya, pineapple, and prune. Rich, but not quite as bright or balanced as release 07 which was rather fantastic. However, this has a strong and dry earthiness which isn’t in release 07, so from a peat perspecitive, this is a bit stronger, but it isn’t quite as balanced. Nonetheless, it’s still terrific!

Highly Recommended (48% of all whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Value: Average. Really good whisky, but at $100 it starts to compete against other possibilities in the $100 range.

Review (2020)

  • Batch: Release 19

  • Bottling Code:  N/A

  • Bottling Date: 2020

I really liked batch 12 (my second favourite whisky from my judging in last year’s Canadian whisky awards). The peat is big here, and slightly medicinal – smoky, briny, woody, peppery peat combined with herbal grain, bright fruit, and white pepper. Great tension. The palate is smoky at first, then medicinal, and then woody with tropical fruit (some papaya even), ash, and black pepper. This is really good.

Maybe not quite as intriguing as Batch 12, but this is the most well rounded of the peated batches, in my opinion – and the most medicinal. The Two Brewers Peated releases are really hitting their stride.

Very Highly Recommended (18% of all whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Value: Average at $100

Review (2020)

  • Batch: Release 25

  • Bottling Code:  N/A

  • Bottling Date: 2021

They do it again – full of that glorious bright, tropical Two Brewers fruit with a smoky, ashy tinge. The core of these whiskies are so similar (and of incredible quality) that there isn’t too much point in repeating my previous reviews, rather, we can focus on the variations around the theme.

This one isn’t as smoky as some of the previous releases, but, with that, it’s brighter in terms of fruit and it’s spicier.  It has a biscuit-like character that hasn’t been as prominent in previous releases, (at least, I haven’t noticed it before) and notes of apple juice really pop out in this one.

Highly Recommended (48% of all whiskies I’ve reviewed to date get this recommendation or higher).

Value: Average. Really good whisky, but at $100 it starts to compete against other possibilities in the $100 range.