Milam & Greene Very Small Batch Bourbon (54% abv)

Master blender Heather Greene harvested 75 bourbon barrels to create the inaugural batch of Very Small Batch Bourbon. These barrels are a combination of bourbon distilled by master distiller Marlene Holmes in Kentucky using the proprietary Milam & Greene mash bill and barrels of Tennessee bourbon. The barrel recipe for Batch 1 is 20% of the precious Kentucky barrels and 80% Tennessee barrels. The barrels are divided into smaller batches to marry in 1,000-gallon vatting tanks before finishing.

The Kentucky whiskey base 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. 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. It takes much more attention to detail to produce an elegant whiskey that showcases the esters that are produced during fermentation to bring out refined fruit, floral, and herbaceous notes. To perfect the precise wood flavor without overpowering these refined ester notes, Very Small Batch Bourbon is finished with French oak staves. French oak casks that once held both tawny port wine and then Milam & Greene’s award-winning rye whiskey are broken down, then “cooked” in the 100-degree Texan summer sun, and finally house-charred to a crisp on the outside only. These crispy-on-the-outside, rye-kissed on-the-inside staves are tied in bundles and then steeped in Very Small Batch Bourbon for about two weeks in the vatting tanks.

Color: Tawny
Nose: It starts sweet and delicious, followed by some nuttiness, soft vanilla, and French toast aromas
Palate: Fruit-forward sweetness at the beginning, quickly evolving to notes of black tea with fresh baked biscuit flavors
Finish: Long and warm