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Wilderness Trail ed In Bond Single Barrel

woody
3.1
(2)€76United States, Kentucky, Bourbon

Flavours

Whisky character

Fresh
Warm
Mild
Full
Smooth
Spicy

Taste mentions

Facts

Nearly every bourbon in Kentucky is made with a sour mash. Wilderness Trail went the other way. Each fermentation starts from scratch, with fresh grain and nothing held back from the batch before. It is fussier to run and it makes a cleaner spirit. Then there is the recipe: 24% wheat, among the highest in the state. Wheat where most distillers put rye means soft, not spicy. This bottling comes from one barrel, at 100 proof, unfiltered. Caramel and vanilla up front, sweet corn through the middle, a little wood and char at the close.

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About the distillery

Distillery

Wilderness Trail

Pat Heist and Shane Baker played together in a heavy metal band at the University of Kentucky, long before whisky ever came up. The two later founded Ferm Solutions in 2006, consulting for distilleries before opening their own in Danville, Kentucky. That hands-on experience became Wilderness Trail in 2012, built on Heist's training as a plant pathologist and Baker's as a mechanical engineer. They use a proprietary sweet mash process with seed-grade corn, wheat and rye grown in Kentucky. Three copper stills turn it into whisky in small batches of twenty barrels or fewer. The science-first approach worked well enough that Campari bought a seventy percent stake in the distillery in 2022. Wilderness Trail still bottles several bourbons in bond, honoring old rules even as the lab work pushes forward.

3.5Average rating

8Whiskies on Distilld

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Kentucky

Most popular whiskies from Wilderness Trail

About the Wilderness Trail ed In Bond Single Barrel

Wilderness Trail ed In Bond Single Barrel is a Kentucky straight bourbon whisky. Each bottle comes from one cask and carries its own barrel number. The mash bill runs 64% corn, 24% wheat and 12% malted barley. That wheat share is among the highest in Kentucky. Wheat softens the grain edge that rye would sharpen. Bonded rules govern the rest. The finished whisky sits at 50% ABV and skips chill filtration entirely. Most Kentucky distillers use a sour mash. They hold back liquid from the last batch and stir it into the next. Wilderness Trail does the opposite. Every fermentation starts clean, with fresh grain and nothing carried over. That method is called sweet mash. The distillery was the first in Kentucky to build its whole operation around it. Barrels then go into the warehouse at a low 55% ABV. The nose opens with vanilla and warm caramel. Sweet corn sits underneath, plain and unmistakable. A faint medicinal edge cuts through the top. On the palate the corn turns rounder and sweeter. Vanilla holds the centre while the wheat keeps things soft. Everything stays clean rather than syrupy. The finish brings wood and a light char from the barrel. Vanilla returns at the very end, drier now, and fades slowly. Wilderness Trail ed In Bond Single Barrel is the distillery's most transparent bottling. Small batch releases blend barrels and smooth out the differences. This one does not. You get one cask, at bonded strength, with no filtration to tidy it up. Two bottles from different barrels will not taste the same. For anyone curious about what sweet mash and wheat actually do, that is the whole point.