Milam & Greene recently introduced its Wildlife Collection, a limited-edition series of cask strength, single barrel whiskeys that explore weather’s effect on aging.
A statement from the distiller explains that their liquid stock has seen exceptionally high heat, ice storms, wild temperature swings, drought, and low humidity levels in the Texas Hill Country this past year.
So, this new Milam & Greene Wildlife Collection is meant to pay homage to the local Texas wildlife that survives and thrives in these extremes.
The first release in the collection is Scorpion Single Barrel, available online Feb. 22nd at www.milamandgreenewhiskey.com. There will be a limited number of bottles for sale at the distillery as well.
The whiskey itself in the Wildlife Collection comes from Kentucky or Tennessee with a mash bill of 80% corn, 10% rye and 10% malted barley. The liquid was aged in its respective home state for a little more than four years in new American oak barrels with a #4 “alligator” char level.
The whiskey then made its way to the Milam & Greene Distillery in Blanco, Texas, where the barrels hit the rickhouse for additional aging under the stewardship of Milam & Greene master blender, Heather Greene.
She said it was when that whiskey first made its way to the Texas rickhouses that she wanted to see how Texas weather would affect the whiskey’s continued aging.
She wasn’t disappointed, she noted, as last year was some of the most intense weather conditions on record.
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“We are continuously experimenting to determine how Texas weather affects aging whiskey, whether it was distilled in Texas or elsewhere – and the results are quite extraordinary so far,” Greene said.
“We’ve noticed that the wild swings in high and low temperatures matched with low humidity here are a real ingredient in our whiskies,” she added. “The Wildlife Collection, therefore, will deliver a traditional base flavor of a Kentucky or Tennessee whiskey but is tweaked and refined using Texas’s natural elements like wind, sun, and humidity to affect the aging in a barrel and to make something truly special.”
The Wildlife Collection: Scorpion Single Barrel Bourbon distiller’s notes:
Bottled at 123.3 proof, this is one of the strongest and richest barrels at Milam & Greene. The Scorpion spent 50 months in Tennessee, followed by eight months on the northside of the Milam & Greene rickhouse in Texas, where it sat without rotation or climate control.
Like its namesake the scorpion, this whiskey thrived in the Texas heat, where there were more than 50 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures and a stingy drought combined with low barometric pressure last summer.
Greene said this left a darker, richer, more robust spirit than barrels from the same lot that stayed in Tennessee. She called it “Extreme Weather Whiskey.”
The whiskey is a deep copper color with aroma of maple glazed donuts, and a taste of herbs, black pepper, candied orange peel, and tobacco. The dry finish is punctuated by fresh-cut lumber notes.
Greene said they will release more Single Barrel Wildlife Collection expressions this year, “And I expect each one to be quite different even though their lineages are all similar. I find the minutiae of what happens in a cask to be some of the most fascinating and misunderstood aspects of what makes a whiskey beautiful.”
The Scorpion Single Barrel had a yield of just 204 bottles, and will sell for $99.99 a bottle. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each bottle will go to benefit Texas Parks and Wildlife.
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