Dark cherry | Stewed fruit | Caramel | Leather | Seasoned oak

Cherry cola | Leather | Aged oak | Dark cherry | Raisin | Savory | Full-flavored

Baking spices up front | Brown sugar | Chocolate chip cookie batter | Black licorice | Leather | Tobacco | Long & savory

This new release pays homage to Whisk(e)y Distilled, a book that Milam & Greene’s CEO and Master Blender Heather Greene wrote. According to the company, “to create Unabridged Volume 2, Milam & Greene harvests bourbon that they distilled in the small copper pot still in Texas and in larger column stills in Kentucky, both using malted rye in the proprietary mash bill.” A total of 56 barrels were used to create the blend, of which evaporation loss was as much as 68%.

Unabridged Volume I was released about a year ago, with Volume II now setting an annual tempo. According to Greene, the final five blends were blind tested by a team of 10 tasters, who unanimously chose the final blend that was used to create this release.

Right from the start, Unabridged Volume 2 is really developed and complex. Leather weaves its way through the sip and helps define the bourbon’s pervasive, savory undertone. Familiar notes of dark cherry, stewed fruit, seasoned oak, raisin, brown sugar, and tobacco find their way in, helping form a base. But they’re met with more unusual notes of cherry cola and chocolate chip cookie batter that make for a distinctive set of flavor accents.

I’m really impressed with this whiskey. Milam & Greene takes whiskeys from multiple distilleries covering three states, aging conditions, and (presumably) mashbills to make this blend. Most notably, the blend combines whiskeys aged from 2 to 16 years old with an anchor at the 7 year mark to create a final blend that’s very cohesive. It doesn’t taste like what I have come to expect from Tennessee bourbons, Kentucky bourbons, or even Texas bourbons. It’s its own jam. If complex, savory bourbon is your thing, don’t sleep on this one.