Review: Milam & Greene Unabridged Volume 3

It’s round 3 with Milam & Greene’s Unabridged, a cask strength blend o’ bourbons from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas. There’s nothing particularly new about the approach of this annual release. A sell-out at the recent Kentucky Bourbon Festival, this blend takes 49 barrels of six different whiskeys and puts them all together a little something like this. Here’s the blend:

4 Casks – 10 Year Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey
13 Casks – 9 Year Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey
7 Casks – 6 Year Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey
5 Casks – 4 Year Texas Bourbon Whiskey with Malted Rye
5 Casks – 4 Year Tennessee Bourbon Whiskey
15 Casks – 3.5 Year Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey with Malted Rye

So… something old, something new, and a lot in between. This is certainly not one of those blends that is made up of 90% young whiskey and just a teaspoon of the old stuff. On paper, it looks quite mature and well-rounded. To that end, let’s give it a try.

On the nose, Unabridged 3 definitely strikes as more wood-forward than previous expressions, which can come across as grassy, as was the case in Unabridged 2. Cigar tobacco and well-toasted bread, almost burnt, percolate alongside more herbal notes of dried mint and crushed rosemary. Quite leathery as it lingers in the glass, this is M&G at its most austere.

The palate is softer and creamier, showing a touch of peanut butter before moving into sweeter territory: vanilla, then Mexican chocolate, dosed with cinnamon and a touch of cayenne pepper. The peanut butter notes move into a more doughy marzipan character with a little time on the palate, and from there into sweetened, shredded coconut. It’s almost chewy. Think Mounds, Almond Joy, whichever is your poison. Some citrus emerges late in the game, sharpening up the finish and layering on a second smear of cinnamon.

This isn’t my favorite of the Unabridged series, but there’s plenty to like about it. If you can do a side by side comparison with a prior edition, all the better.

118 proof.

B+ / $95 / milamandgreene.com [BUY IT NOW FROM RESERVEBAR]

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