This Texas Distillery Is Using its Latest Bourbon Collection to Experiment With the Effects of Weather on Aging Whiskey

Milam and Greene has unveiled a new series of whiskeys, The Wildlife Collection, which begins with the Scorpion Single Barrel. (Photo: Milam and Greene)

Texas whiskey brand Milam and Greene is using its latest series to tackle a long-asked question: How does weather affect aging whiskey?

On Wednesday, Texas whiskey brand Milam and Greene announced the Wildlife Collection, a limited-edition series of cask-strength, single-barrel whiskeys. Milam and Greene says its Wildlife Collection pays homage to the wildlife that thrives in Texas’ extreme weather.

“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,” Milam and Greene Whiskey CEO and master blender Heather Greene said in a news release.

The first release of the collection is the Scorpion Single Barrel, which will be available for $99.99 online starting at 3 p.m. CST Feb. 22 on www.milamandgreenewhiskey.com. Additionally, a limited number of bottles will be sold at the distillery in Blanco, which is north of San Antonio and west of Austin.

Each release in the Wildlife Collection will come from Kentucky or Tennessee and be distilled from a mashbill of 80% corn, 10% rye and 10% malted barley.

Each whiskey underwent just over four years of aging in its home state in new American oak barrels with a char level of four. After arriving in Blanco, the barrels were placed in Milam and Greene’s rickhouse for additional maturation. While they were undergoing that additional aging last year, the distillery experienced “some of the most intense weather conditions on record,” Milam and Greene said in the news release.

Since each whiskey will be made from the same mashbill and aged in the same type of barrel, the weather and aging location of Kentucky vs. Tennessee will be the only differentiating factors.

“We’ve noticed that the wild swings in high and low temperatures matched with low humidity here are a real ingredient in our whiskies,” Greene said. “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.”

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each bottle of the Milam and Greene Wildlife Collection will go to benefit Texas Parks & Wildlife.

Milam and Greene Wildlife Collection: Scorpion Single Barrel Bourbon

The first release in the Milam and Greene Wildlife Collection is bottled at a powerful 123.3 proof. The Scorpion Single Barrel Bourbon was aged for 50 months in Tennessee and then was moved to the north side of the Milam and Greene rickhouse, where it spent eight months without rotation or climate control.

The Scorpion spent its time in Blanco baking in the dry Texas heat, where there were “over 50 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures and tremendous drought combined with low barometric pressure last summer,” according to Milam and Greene.

“Scorpion is truly a ‘Texas finished, Tennessee Whiskey’ that belies its age,” Greene said. “We will release more Single Barrel Wildlife Collection whiskeys 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.”

An extremely limited release, Scorpion Single Barrel yielded only 204 bottles, losing much of its distillate to the angel’s share due to the environmental conditions in Texas.

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