The folks at Milam & Greene Whiskey must have seen “Moneyball” recently because they are releasing their Very Small Batch Straight Bourbon Whiskey: Batch 1.
This whiskey marks several company milestones including the introduction of the first bourbon distilled by Milam & Greene in Kentucky, the first whiskey to be finished with French oak staves, the first addition to the Milam & Greene core portfolio in over two years, and the first whiskey to be awarded a Gold Medal at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition before it was even launched.
To create the inaugural batch, Master Blender Heather Greene harvested 75 bourbon barrels. These barrels are a combination of bourbon distilled by Master Distiller Marlene Holmes in Kentucky using the former’s proprietary mash bill and barrels of Tennessee bourbon. The barrel recipe for Batch 1 is 20% of the Kentucky barrels and 80% Tennessee barrels. The barrels are divided into smaller batches to marry in 1,000-gallon vatting tanks before finishing.
“At Milam & Greene, everything we do is in limited quantities because of our size, but I know the big whiskey geek question is: exactly how small is this release?” says Milam & Greene Whiskey CEO and Master Blender Heather Greene. “With 75 bourbon barrels, we can release 1,500 9L cases of Very Small Batch Bourbon. The amount of people who will be able to purchase this bottle is approximately 0.00451% of the entire population based on current U.S. Census numbers, a detail that delights our fans and makes me laugh at the same time.”
The Kentucky whiskey base in Very Small Batch Bourbon is distilled by the Milam & Greene team using their signature mash bill of 70% corn, 22% malted rye, and 8% malted barley. The use of malted rye provides a rich texture and nuttiness that makes it approachable at a young age. For Batch 1, the barrels are aged in Kentucky and then Texas for just shy of 4 years.
The Tennessee bourbon was distilled with a mash bill of 80% corn, 10% rye, and 10% malted barley. The particular barrels for Very Small Batch Bourbon are chosen for their unique flavor character and will vary slightly from batch to batch reflecting the influence of the environment as the whiskey matures. Greene selects barrels based not only on their current quality but also on her predictions for the flavor development over time in barrels. She carefully chooses the location for barrel aging to ensure the extraction of the most flavor. This batch is a reflection of the climate on whiskey from three different states: Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas.
“Using very small batches as the heart of our new whiskey allows for greater control over the final product,” Greene said. “It takes much more attention to detail to produce an elegant whiskey using smaller quantities of bourbon and three different climates, but it allows for an incredible amount of artistry in flavor. I’m particularly partial to the delivery of esters in my glass, the refined fruit, floral and herbaceous notes harnessed mostly during fermentation and mashing that are often lost in many whiskeys. This is the type of Bourbon that is missing in many collections, and one I wanted to drink.”
Very Small Batch Bourbon is finished with French oak staves that once held both tawny port wine and then Milam & Greene’s rye whiskey. They are broken down, then “cooked” in the 100-degree Texan summer sun, and finally house-charred to a crisp on the outside only. These staves are tied in bundles and then steeped in Very Small Batch Bourbon for about two weeks in the vatting tanks. The distilling team tastes the bourbon daily during the finishing process to ensure a balance of flavors.
Milam & Greene Very Small Batch Straight Bourbon Whiskey: Batch 1 (108 proof) is available for $69.99. This whiskey will be released twice a year with Batch 2 coming this fall
