Tasting notes

nose

Blackcurrant, blackberry and grape over cinnamon, dark brown sugar and a little chocolate

palate

Velvety and rich, with plump raisin, dark raspberry, rye spice and vanilla against dry oak

finish

Long; raisin and dark berry stay with peppery rye spice, drying to oak with a faintly bitter grip

Mash bill

The grain recipe of this Indiana-distilled straight rye has not been published. As a straight rye it is at least half rye by law, and it is not made to Milam & Greene's own corn-heavy bourbon recipe: the company buys the rye already distilled and aged.

Awards

• Double Gold — San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2020
• Best in Show — American Craft Spirits Association 2021
• 92 Points — Bartender Spirits Awards 2026

Why it's craft

Milam & Greene does not distill this rye: it buys straight rye from Indiana and finishes it at its Blanco, Texas, distillery in casks that once held port wine. The finishing happens in a Hill Country rickhouse, where the heat changes how fast and how strongly the cask gives up flavor, so the team tastes each barrel and decides when it is done rather than working to a fixed schedule. The house, founded in 2019, distills its own bourbon on a pot still in Blanco; this rye shows its blending and finishing side.