Milam and Greene Releases Bourbon That Pays Homage to ‘The Bullies of the Bird World’

Milam and Greene unveiled its latest release within the 2024 Wildlife Series, an homage to the Mocking Bird. (Photo: Milam and Greene)

Milam and Greene announced on Wednesday its second bourbon release in 2024’s Wildlife Collection. Each release in the series pays homage to a different animal, and this bourbon honors the Mockingbird.

The 128.21-proof bourbon will be available for purchase 3 p.m. CST Wednesday on the brand’s website and in the distillery’s tasting room.

“Each release of our Wildlife Collection starts with the selection of excellent, young whiskey barrels, then applying my understanding of how the aging process will affect the final taste,” Milam & Greene Whiskey CEO Heather Greene said in a statement. “By carefully studying the impact of climate on aging whiskey, we better understand how the sense of place will be reflected in our barrels.”

Just 173 bottles are available of this latest release. The whiskey was distilled in Tennessee from a mashbill of 84% corn, 8% rye and 8% malted barley and barreled in March 2016. It spent six years and seven months maturing in Tennessee before being brought over to Texas, where it aged for a year and four months. During that time, the bourbon barrel experienced “extreme drought” and a “once-in-a-generation ice storm,” while it rested in Milam and Greene’s Rickhouse #2. The bourbon was bottled on Feb. 6.

Greene claims barrels of whiskey aged exclusively in Texas differ in terms of flavor from whiskey barrels aged in other states before finishing their journey in the Lone Star state.

“We’ve compared whiskey that was aged its whole life in other states with whiskey completely aged in Texas,” Greene explained. “Whiskey aged 100 percent in Texas usually tends to be richer and darker. It’s very robust, very spicy, and you can sink your teeth into it. By aging a barrel mostly in another state and then finishing its aging in Texas we’re getting richer, more intense flavor profiles at an earlier phase of its life. That’s what we want in The Wildlife Collection.”

Milam and Green claims the purpose of the brand’s wildlife series is to demonstrate how the extreme Texas climate affects the brand’s whiskeys while additionally bringing awareness to Texas parks and wildlife causes.

This latest release is named after Texas’ state bird, what the brand refers to as a “medium-sized” bird “with a big personality.” These gray birds mimic the songs of other birds around them for mating and to fend off other predatory species.

“Mockingbirds frequent the distillery year-round,” Milam and Greene Whiskey Distillery Manager Rikk Munroe said. “They can be seen chasing other birds off and are sort of the bullies of the bird world out here on the property. They also love to pilfer my perfectly ripe tomatoes seemingly moments before I go harvest them. They are funny like that.”

2024 appears to be an avian-inspired year for Milam and Greene. The first release of the brand’s Wildlife Collection of the year dropped in February and was a cask-strength bourbon honoring the Golden Eagle. The expression was bottled at 128.2 proof, and just 168 bottles were available.

Milam and Greene Mockingbird Bourbon Tasting Notes, Via the Brand

Nose: Glazed doughnuts, old burnished leather, dark fruit dusted with brown sugar.

Taste: Viscous, with a full mouthfeel with coffee and cornbread flavors.

Finish: Lengthy, with caramel candies and cola.

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