Austin is known for keeping it weird but what about wild? Milam & Greene Whiskey, based in Texas’ capital, has just introduced its Wildlife Collection.
This new limited-edition series of cask strength, single barrel whiskies attempt to answer the question, “How does weather affect aging whiskey?” – namely the exceptionally high heat, ice storms, wild temperature swings, drought, and low humidity levels that hit Texas Hill Country within the last year. The Milam & Greene Wildlife Collection pays homage to the local Texas wildlife that somehow thrives in these extremes. The first release of this collection is the Scorpion Single Barrel.
The whiskies in the Wildlife Collection are made in either Kentucky or Tennessee with a mash bill of 80% corn, 10% rye and 10% malted barley before making their way down to Texas. They were aged in their respective home states for just over four years in new American oak barrels with a #4 “alligator” char level. Upon arrival at The Milam & Greene Distillery in Blanco, Texas, the barrels were placed in the rickhouse for additional aging under the stewardship of Milam & Greene master blender Heather Greene, who wanted to see how Texas weather would affect their continued aging. It just so happens that last year, the distillery experienced some of the most intense weather conditions on record.
“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,” says Milam & Greene Whiskey CEO and Master Blender Heather Greene. “We’ve noticed that the wild swings in high and low temperatures matched with low humidity here are a real ingredient in our whiskies. 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 Scorpion Single Barrel, is bottled at 123.3 proof, making this bourbon one of the strongest barrels ever seen at Milam & Greene. The Scorpion spent 50 months in Tennessee, followed by eight months on the northside of the Milam & Greene rickhouse in Texas, without rotation or climate control. Like its namesake, the scorpion, this whiskey thrived in the blazing Texas heat, where there were over 50 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures and tremendous drought combined with low barometric pressure last summer. This left a darker, richer, more robust spirit than barrels from the same lot that stayed in Tennessee. As a result, the Scorpion Single Barrel had a yield of just 204 bottles.
“Scorpion is truly a ‘Texas finished, Tennessee Whiskey’ that belies its age,” continued Greene. “We will release more Single Barrel Wildlife Collection whiskies this year, and I expect each one to be quite different even though their lineages are all similar. I find the minutia of what happens in a cask to be some of the most fascinating and misunderstood aspects of what makes a whiskey beautiful.”
Milam & Greene Wildlife Collection Scorpion Single Barrel is available for $99.99 only on the Milam & Greene website and in the distillery tasting room. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each bottle of the Milam & Greene Wildlife Collection will go to benefit Texas Parks & Wildlife.
