In 2013, plans for a distillery in Tel Aviv were well underway, and the founders of the distillery initiated a brilliant move to gain the distillery some notoriety. Hence, an Indiegogo campaign was launched which sold 1000 bottles of a future promise. This promise came to fruition in the Founder’s Edition, a beautiful rendition of the M&H Classic finished in specially sourced (kosher) Pedro Ximénez seasoned butts, presented at 57% ABV.
So having waited 6 years for this, here we go:
M&H Founder’s Edition (57% ABV, NCF, NC)
Appearance: Bronze, very thin and slow legs.
Nose: Sweet spice, with both peppery notes and cinnamon with clove. It’s followed by dried apricots and red fruit. Dry wine notes, but a sweet wine. After a while in the glass, you get a creamy maltiness with a more intense sweetness. Water brings out some winey sourness. The PX is really noticeable and adds quite a bit of depth, without overpowering the spirit.
Palate: Chili pepper with sweet dried fruit, with a bit of a waxy bitterness, with washes of sweetness. A little bit of water rounds it out on the palate, bringing some maltiness in, while highlighting some citrus.
Linger: Spice (pepper and cinnamon with some chili), coupled with a dryness that almost borders on chalkiness. The linger is long remains spice prominent for a long while.
Conclusion
This is a lovely expression that really shows off the M&H spirit and the direction the distillery is headed. This is basically – cask wise – the Classic with a PX finish presented at cask strength. Both the finish and strength make this whisky one that totally rocks. I really like the strong PX influence here, which I think adds a lot of depth.
There is no doubt that this is a bottle you’ll really be happy you sprang for, way back on the Indiegogo campaign in those early pre-production days.