Milam & Greene Whiskey‘s Very Small Batch Bourbon isn’t even near the smallest batch launch its ever made, however this preliminary launch of 75 barrels — for a brand new everlasting version launch — is nonetheless a fairly tiny one as whiskey releases go.
The whiskey marks a handful of milestones for the Texas-based operation. Per the corporate, it contains the “first bourbon distilled by Milam & Greene in Kentucky, the primary whiskey to be completed with French oak staves, the primary addition to the Milam & Greene core portfolio in over two years, and the primary whiskey to be awarded a Gold Medal on the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competitors earlier than it was even launched.”
What’s within the bottle? As with most M&G releases, it’s a mix of bourbon distilled by grasp distiller Marlene Holmes in Kentucky utilizing the proprietary Milam & Greene mashbill of 70% corn, 22% malted rye, and eight% malted barley (20%) blended with sourced barrels of Tennessee bourbon (80%). Getting older is finished variously in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas, although no age statements are included on the bottle.
Right here’s how that French oak stave ending works:
To excellent the exact sort of wooden taste with out overpowering these refined ester notes, Very Small Batch Bourbon is completed with French oak staves. French oak casks that when held each tawny port wine after which Milam & Greene’s award-winning rye whiskey are damaged down, then “cooked” within the 100-degree Texan summer time solar, and at last house-charred to a crisp on the surface solely. These crispy-on-the-outside, rye-kissed on-the-inside staves are tied in bundles after which steeped in Very Small Batch Bourbon for about two weeks within the vatting tanks. The distilling workforce tastes the bourbon each day through the ending course of to make sure a steadiness of flavors.
As is the norm, we skilled the whiskey on Zoom with CEO/whiskey nerd Heather Greene, and we have now some ideas.
I don’t suppose Milam & Greene has ever launched an uncompelling whiskey and this one’s no exception: A deftly crafted mix of bourbons picked at simply the correct time. The nostril has an instantly peppery, spicy high quality, veering into menthol with time in glass. Greene talked about a fragrance/cologne observe in her commentary, and it’s spot on — potpourri, break up vanilla bean, and slightly strawberry on the again finish. Wholly drinkable, the whiskey pours on notes of vanilla and butterscotch, then transferring into notes of chocolate and cherries. Reminiscent in some ways of prior Milam & Greene bottlings, the charred barrel stave, mint, and candy vanilla notes work in lovely tandem, making a rhythm of candy and savory that rolls proper into the prolonged, toasted marshmallow end.
Even at full power — although I don’t suppose 54% abv is important right here — the whiskey is approachable and drinkable. It doesn’t want water however you possibly can drop some in if issues get slightly too toasty, coaxing out a nuttier character from the bourbon. All informed: I’ve but to search out an M&G launch that I didn’t get pleasure from, and this one is not any exception to the rule.
108 proof. 18,000 bottles produced.
A- / $70 / milamandgreene.com
Milam & Greene Very Small Batch
$70
About Put up Creator
