Does the place you age your bourbon matter to the ultimate product?
It looks as if the reply to that’s an apparent sure; whiskeymakers have been telling us for many years that all the pieces issues, and that even the ground of the getting older rickhouse and whether or not it’s fabricated from wooden or concrete can have a big impact on the completed product. And when you’ll discover loads of hyper-localized experiments that poke at these smaller variables, like Buffalo Hint’s Single Oak Mission, nobody has actually examined the influence of getting older a whiskey in a single state vs. one other.
Till now.
Milam & Greene‘s Kentucky vs. Texas getting older experiment is a primary, and it’s exhausting to consider it has taken this lengthy to get achieved. Much more thrilling is the truth that you, the patron, get to pattern the outcomes your self, so you can also be a part of “The Reply.”
The experiment is straightforward but foundational: Milam & Greene distilled 15 barrels value of whiskey in Kentucky within the fall of 2019. The whiskey was distilled at Bardstown Bourbon Co. from a candy mash of 70% corn, 8% malted barley, and 22% malted rye — with two yeast strains used. The whiskey was then barreled at a 115 entry proof earlier than the batch was torn asunder: Half the barrels stayed in Kentucky in Bardstown, and half (effectively, 8 of the 15) had been shipped off to Texas. Each halves aged for an equivalent size of time, greater than 5 years.
In summer season 2025, the experiment concluded, the whiskeys had been dumped, bottled in 375ml bottles that are bought as a two-bottle set, and provided as much as the general public and press. In a Zoom tasting with grasp blender Heather Greene and grasp distiller Marlene Holmes, I used to be in a position to undertake the final word whiskey examine and distinction operation, and see for myself the stark distinction between getting older within the comparatively mellow Kentucky local weather vs. underneath the unforgiving Texas solar.
It’s an interesting experiment, and I’ve received some ideas on each whiskeys beneath. As effectively, in the event you choose up the two-bottle set of every whiskey, don’t simply strive them individually. Attempt mixing them in numerous proportions, which reveals a brand new layer of complexity — and which is, in essence, the concept behind M&G’s Triple Cask Bourbon providing.
Milam & Greene “The Reply” Bourbon – Kentucky Aged Evaluation
Lighter in coloration than the Texas aged spirit. Beefier on the nostril, with numerous huge rye spice. Loads of underlying vanilla and caramel, with ample barrel char offering a gritty punch. The palate has fruit galore, an enormous salad of apples, berries, and stone fruit, backed up by clementine oranges, banana, and baking spice — approaching cigar field with its depth. Candy nougat and marzipan endure and result in a end that echoes fruit — raspberry a very vivid concluding be aware. Lovely and clear, it’s a basic Kentucky expertise that couldn’t be extra effusive.
108.3 proof. A
Milam & Greene “The Reply” Bourbon – Texas Aged Evaluation
Heavier char notes on the nostril — a lot heavier. (Even the chemical evaluation of those whiskeys is considerably totally different, says Greene.) Tannin and oak are fast on the nostril, adopted by a daring BBQ beef rib be aware, heavy on the bark. The palate is biting and, as Holmes says, “just a little sassy,” with a lot tannic oak that it initially threatens to claw your cheeks aside. Time in glass helps there — although the nostril stays somewhat robust — serving to coax out surprisingly candy notes of butterscotch, almond brittle, and a major clove character late within the sport. The end runs quick to darkish chocolate and a transparent toasted almond be aware, with a charry reprise. Much less punchy than many Texas whiskeys I’ve encountered through the years, however nonetheless effectively within the wheelhouse because it leans exhausting on its oak.
117.3 proof. A-
$150 per set (two 375ml bottles)
Milam & Greene “The Reply” Bourbon
USD150
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