A New Old Forester 117 Series, The Latest A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength, & More [New Releases]

This week sees a handful of new releases that meld two different places within the same bottle. Old Forester has returned with a new 117 Series bourbon, this one finished in scotch whisky casks, marking a first for the distillery. Texas-based Milam & Greene has released its latest Wildlife Collection whiskey; while the series highlights local Texas wildlife, it's also an exploration into how extreme weather in the Texas Hill Country impacts whiskey maturation. This new single barrel bourbon was distilled in Tennessee but spent its final months aging amidst the highs and lows of Texas weather. Across the pond, UK-based Never Say Die has made its U.S. debut with a Kentucky bourbon that aged in the state for five years before being shipped across the ocean, finishing its maturation in England.

Elsewhere, there are two new cask-strength whiskeys out this week, one a blended bourbon and the other rye. Read on for full details.

Old Forester 117 Series: Scotch Cask Finish
Style: Finished bourbon
Origin: Kentucky
Age: Not stated
ABV: 46.5%
Price: $60
Release: December 2023
Availability: Limited

Need to know:
Old Forester’s 117 Series showcases experimentation and innovation at the distillery, and this release is no different, finishing its Kentucky bourbon in Speyside scotch whisky casks (likely from one of Brown-Forman’s scotch distilleries, which include Benriach, The GlenDronach, and Glenglassaugh).

Whisky Advocate says:
According to the distillery, the decision to finish Old Forester in scotch whisky casks arose as a way to pay homage to distillery founder George Garvin Brown’s Scottish heritage. Ultimately, that special maturation brings out a smoky char within the bourbon, as well as plenty of dried fruit and spice notes. As with all 117 Series whiskeys, Scotch Cask Finish is limited, available at Old Forester Distilling Co.’s Whiskey Row retail shop and select Kentucky stores.

A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength (Batch 3)
Style: Blended bourbon
Origin: Virginia
Age: 9 year old
ABV: 67.55%
Price: $100
Release: Retail release in December; online lottery in January
Availability: Limited

Need to know:
A. Smith Bowman Distillery has released the third batch of its Cask Strength bourbon. This one is a blend of barrels aged for at least 9 years, and is bottled at a monstrous 67.55% ABV.

Whisky Advocate says:
The Sunset Hills, Virginia-based A. Smith Bowman has opted for a two-stage release for this expression. Bottles have already begun to hit retail shelves, but the distillery has held a number of them back for an online lottery. The lottery will begin on January 3rd and will conclude on January 10th. While the sweepstakes is open to anyone, the winners must be able to travel to the distillery to purchase their bottles.

Milam & Greene 2023 Wildlife Collection White-Tailed Buck Single Barrel
Style: Straight bourbon
Origin: Tennessee
Age: 7 year old
ABV: 65.6%
Price: $150
Release: December
Availability: 259 bottles

Need to know:
The latest release in Milam & Greene’s Wildlife Collection was distilled in Tennessee from a mashbill of 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% malted barley. The distillate was barreled on March 8, 2016, in Tennessee, where it spent 6 years and 8 months aging. On November 10, 2022, the bourbon was moved to Blanco, Texas, where it spent an additional year maturing in Milam & Green’s Rickhouse 2, a warehouse without climate control that’s regularly exposed to Texas’ extreme temperature swings (which this past year included a winter ice storm and triple-digit heat). Finally, the whiskey was bottled on November 27, 2023.

Whisky Advocate says:
Milam & Greene's The Wildlife Collection mission is two-pronged: It highlights how Texas Hill Country weather extremes impact whiskey maturation and honors the local Texas wildlife that thrives amidst such a demanding environment. This year’s single barrel pays homage to the white-tailed buck, which roams from the state’s eastern forests to its western deserts. A portion of the proceeds from each sale of the Wildlife Collection goes toward Texas Parks & Wildlife.

Union Horse Distilling 10 year old Reunion
Style: Rye
Origin: Kansas
Age: 10 year old
ABV: 62.5%
Price: $150
Release: December
Availability: 500 bottles; Kansas and Missouri

Need to know:
The newest entry to Union Horse Distiling's Reunion Rye series, which features 100% ryes, was aged for 10 years and was bottled at cask strength. 100 bottles were set aside for an online pre-order (which must be picked up from the distillery), with the remaining set to roll out in retailers across Missouri and Kansas.

Whisky Advocate says:
The family-owned Union Horse Distilling Co. was founded in Kansas City in 2010. Union Horse produces a few different styles of whiskey, but its specialty seems to be ryes like this one. The flagship Reunion Rye, which scored 89 points with our tasting panel, is only 5 years old and is bottled at 46.5% ABV.

Never Say Die
Style: Bourbon
Origin: Kentucky
Age: 6 year old
ABV: 47.5%
Price: $70
Release: November
Availability: Online at seelbachs.com

Need to know:
Following a launch in the UK in September 2022, Never Say Die bourbon has made its U.S. debut. The whiskey was distilled in Kentucky from a 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley mashbill. It spent 5 years aging in Kentucky before embarking on a 6 week-long transatlantic voyage onboard a ship bound for England, where it was moved into a rickhouse for the remainder of its aging period.

Whisky Advocate says:
For whisky enthusiasts with an interest in terroir, the aging process here is something worth discussing. We’ve seen many expressions opt for a split-location maturation, usually out of necessity due to unfavorable climates negatively impacting a whisky’s flavor or yield—with last week’s release of Milam & Greene Castle Hill Batch 3 suffering a monumental 67% volume loss due to evaporation. We’ve also seen plenty of whiskies aged on ships as well. An expression that does both, however, isn’t nearly as common. There are a lot of factors at play here, from differing humidity and temperature, to how much oak interaction the whisky had during the journey due to the waves. It’ll be an interesting venture to see how much (or how little) influence those factors will have on the liquid itself.