Distilleries of the North
In the last decade, Israel is enjoying anupcoming and thrilling spirits industry
Gin, Eau de Vie, Whiskey, Vermouth, Vodka and even Rum distilleries are popping up,
showing a lot of character and potential.
All of them are doing so with the use of only local products.
Alongside of them are operating several boutique breweries with exciting selection of beers.
Happily, the best of them are located in the northern part of Israel, right beside the wineries, many times working closely together with them, sharing ingredients and equipment.
So, if you are feeling brave and want to taste a lot of local beers and spirits,
I would love to join you!
The Tour's itinerary usually starts at 9:30 AM, when I pick you up from your location,
It offers 2 distilleries visits and 2 special lookouts stops.
The distilleries we would visit are
Jullius Craft Distillery
The first artisan distillery in Israel!
This distillery was founded in 2008, with one dream in mind: to distill the highest quality, handcrafted alcohol from only the finest, local ingredients.
In a long process, which may be described as walking on the edge of a cliff while tipsy, the Jullius project became a reality, pioneering a totally new path in the spirits sector. Jullius was the first in Israel to distill local fruit distillates, known as “schnapps” or “eau de vie”, including a number of grape varieties. They were also the pioneers in distilling honey, gin, and a bitter digestif (“bitters”) from local plants.
The principle that guides Yuval Hargil (“Joov”) – the founder and distiller – is to only produce spirits that he likes to drink himself. Pure alcohol, without additives and unnecessary shortcuts, is produced in harmony and with care for the environment.
The distillery, the philosopher’s stone, which was built by copper specialists from Germany, is powered by solar energy and its cooler and condenser
is four times more efficient than
traditional old-generation distillation.
The pureness of the fruit is maintained through extremely small distillation batches. The heart of the distillate preserves the pureness of the fruit aromas. This is why nothing needs to be added to the spirit. Only the raw material is allowed to express itself, or more correctly to sing.
Golan Heights Distillery
A family-owned craft distillery,
renowned for its very fine whiskies.
It was established in September 2014 in the first and only city in the Golan Heights.
David Zibel, a cool hipster Orthodox Jew who is the owner and master distiller, decided to share his passion for fine spirits, by creating the finest he can, constantly improving and testing boundaries.
David crafts his whiskies from grain to bottle using a mix of local and imported grains, local spring and well water, and the finest local casks
he can get his hands on.
His famous Arak (the legendary anise spirit), Gin and Absinthe are crafted with homemade beet/cane sugar alcohol, using only the best locally grown and imported botanicals.
At around 4:00 PM we will finish the visits and make our way back to your desired drop-off location.
While I’ve provided this suggested itinerary, please note that the day can be customized as you wish, so please don’t hesitate to share your specific interests with me.
*Our vehicles for the tours are a comfortable SUV, or a luxury minibus for larger groups.