Israel's M&H Distillery (Milk and Honey) celebrated receiving the accolade of “Best Single Malt Whisky in the World” for its Element Sherry Cask at the World Whiskies Awards
Henry Jeffreys, a well-known food writer, included the award-winning M&H distillery from Israel in his article in the Guardian, well-known for its anti-Israel views, this week. “The article was about unusual whiskies from non-traditional countries and I included this particular one, aged in pomegranate wine casks in the heat of the Dead Sea, because I had never tasted anything quite like it before,” said Jeffreys.
The column mentioned different whiskies from India, Finland, Tasmania and Taiwan, but when the article appeared on the Guardian newspaper’s website, Jeffreys was surprised to see that the M&H distillery had been edited out.
Jeffreys posted a screenshot of the full article on X, clearly showing his positive recommendation for the Israeli brand. "It's really interesting," he wrote in a post alongside the photo, "In the column I mention Israeli whisky but it didn't make it into the print edition and now it's gone from the site."
‘It made me look stupid as I had emailed the distillery to let them know that it was in, but by the time they opened the link it had been removed,’ he added.
At the bottom of the article, it was added: “This article was amended on 5 November 2024 to reinstate a reference to a whisky from the M&H distillery.”
The paper has not responded to questions about why it reinstated the whisky or the reason it was removed in the first place.
It’s not the first time the Guardian has made rather notable deletions after publication.
Only last month, it was revealed that the paper had removed a controversial 7 October review after it received backlash over its author’s suggestion the film had portrayed Gazans as ‘testosterone-crazed Hamas killers’.
Last month, the newspaper's website published strong criticism of the documentary "One Day in October," claiming that it was "demonizing the citizens of Gaza." Subsequently, following numerous complaints, the review was removed from the site.
The Guardian did not respond to the censorship of the whisky recommendation.