Wilderness Trail High Rye Bourbon Whiskey

Product Description

Wilderness Trail Distillery opened in 2012. It was founded by Shane Baker and Pat Heist, who are experts in the growing of yeast and had founded the company Ferm-Solutions. Ferm-Solutions specializes in the cultivation of yeast for distillers, breweries and wineries. In fact, they have worked with many distilleries in Kentucky and elsewhere, providing yeast for starting a distillery or fixing problems distilleries have problems that arise with their yeast. It only made sense that Baker and Heist would enter the distilling industry. Wilderness Trail Distillery started with a small, 250-gallon pot still that made about a barrel a day. They quickly expanded to a 40 foot tall, 18-inch diameter column still with a 250-gallon pot still doubler in 2016. They have expanded yet again to a 40 foot tall and 36-inch diameter column still with a 500-gallon pot still doubler. They distill to about 137 proof after doubling. They can now use both of these stills to produce over 200 barrels of whiskey a day. They have several iron-clad warehouses with traditional barrel ricks on-site for aging their whiskeys. Once they distill the whiskey, they put it into 53-gallon barrels that have been toasted and charred to a level 4 char. The Bourbon enters the barrel at 110 proof and the rye goes into the barrel at 100 proof – the lowest entry proof I am aware of for a rye whiskey. They make a traditional Bourbon made with rye and a Bourbon made with wheat. The wheat recipe Bourbon has a mash bill of 64% corn, 24% wheat and 12% malted barley. The rye whiskey is 56% rye, 33% corn and 11% malted barley.

The bouquet shows a mix of vanilla, caramel and mild oak with ever-slight hints of wild flowers. The bourbon tastes of honey bread, caramelized sugars, deep sweet ripe fruit flavors, vanilla, crème brulee, and toasty goodness with balancing char, oak flavors, and wood spices on the finish.