It’s no secret: whiskey nerds are a special bunch. Fans of whiskeys from around the world seem to revel in the nuances, geeky minutia and fine-toothed details of whiskey unlike any other spirit – with the exception of perhaps #agaveheads, granted. This is not a pejorative, we happily count ourselves within those overzealous ranks. Which is why we love when whiskey makers hack deep into the weeds to show what makes their whiskey special, or at the very least reveal how the sausages are made.
Consider the ‘Ten Recipe Tasting Experience Kit’ that Four Roses released in 2023 for their 135th Anniversary. The boxset collected all 10 of the beloved Kentucky label’s proprietary recipes in one package — so lovers of Four Roses could drink each 50 mL bottle dram-by-dram in order to experience the minute differences between their twin mashbills (Mashbill B and Mashbill E), further broken out by each yeast strain they use.
Or when Jeffersons allowed us to try their Ocean’s New York side-by-side against the original whiskey aged solely in Kentucky. That’s when we realized their Oceans concept — where Jeffersons stash barrels in boats sailing around the world for dynamic aging — delivered a real world affect. By first tasting the bourbon that didn’t go through that famed river and ocean voyage from Kentucky to New York City and then once the barrels were sloshed about by Mississippi River and Atlantic Ocean wave and climate, we were sold on the veracity of this maritime aging.
Which is why we really appreciate Milam & Greene’s latest limited edition project: The Answer. With a name like that, you might be asking What exactly is the question? The Question is simple: How does climate affect aging? Or more specifically in Milam & Greene’s case, what happens when you take barrels from the exact same batch of bourbon and age them in two different states?
It’s a pretty simple experiment to deduce a very critical mystery for whiskey. And it is an experiment perfectly suited for the Milam & Greene team, a partnership forged between Master Blender/CEO Heather Greene and Master Distiller Marlene Holmes, a 30+-year whiskey veteran. You see the duo launched as an interstate project in 2019, specializing in arguably the two most important states in American whiskey: Kentucky and Texas. Normally they distill their whiskey in both Blanco (at their Ben Milam Distillery), Texas and Bardstown, Kentucky — using copper stills in the former and column stills in the latter.
For this inquiry in deducing the affects of climate on aging, they began with the exact same high-rye bourbon mashbill — using their signature 70% corn / 22% malted rye / 8% barley recipe — distilled solely in Kentucky in 2019. They then took the 53-gallon barrels and shipped half to their Blanco rick houses, and left the other half to age in the milder Kentucky climate.
The results, after five years of aging separately, speak pretty clearly. And lucky for some 9,600 aficionados who score a box of The Answer, they will be able to open up a bottle each of the Kentucky and Texas aged whiskeys, taste them side-by-side, and find out for themselves.
“The popular hypothesis that the hotter, drier climate significantly differentiates Texas bourbon across the board with higher oak extraction compared to a Kentucky bourbon is a good one, and now you can taste it,” Master Blender Greene verifies. “I encourage other distilleries in Texas to iterate on our findings, though, and I suspect many will come up with similar results. This is exciting.”
Popping open both bottles and taking a sip from each, there indeed is clearly a difference between the two high-rye bourbons, even if it is slight. First off, the old chestnut that hotter climates like that of Texas accelerate aging is accurate, as the Texas bottle tastes more mature, absorbing a more amber hue compared to the Kentucky’s light caramel. The latter also boasts deeper vanilla, chocolate and caramel sweetness, with a silkier mouthfeel.
However it’s also powered significantly more by oak, which may not be to everyone’s liking — for instance, the subtle notes of pear and green apples are more forward and discernible in the Kentucky strain. While Texas packs more flavor — and more ABV punch (58-percent vs Kentucky’s 54-percent), as the southern heat evaporates water more dramatically — the nuances of the Kentucky edition are hard to resist. If forced at gunpoint, however this reviewer might reluctantly lean towards the Lone Star State’s magical aging affects.
It’s important to note that choosing one is unimportant, as Milam & Greene normally blend these two strains (and sometimes more) to create their own bourbon. But it’s still fun to compare and contrast from the comfort of your couch, or den bar. Milam & Greene The Answer’s twin 375ml bottles come packaged in a black wooden box, and went on sale this week for $150. Buy it for your home experimenting before they sell out.
Follow Deputy Editor Nicolas Stecher on Instagram at @nickstecher and @boozeoftheday.
