Wilderness Trail 8 Year Bourbon Review

Wilderness Trail
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Aged 8 Years
Bottled In Bond
MSRP: $86
Review

Please enjoy my Wilderness Trail 8 Year Bourbon Review!

Exciting Times For Wilderness Trail Distillery

If you are a Wilderness Trail Distillery fan like I am, then these are exciting times! While it seems like just yesterday when I tried their first bourbon back in the Spring of 2018, apparently it has been a bit longer. Four years have since passed, and we now have the release of Wilderness Trail’s 8 Year Old Bottled In Bond Bourbon!

Wilderness Trail 8 Year Old Bourbon Uses Their “Rye” Bourbon Mashbill

While Wilderness Trail Distillery’s first release was their wheated bourbon, with a mashbill of 64% corn, 24% wheat and 12% malted barley, this release uses their rye bourbon mashbill. To clarify, that means that rye replaces the wheat as the secondary grain. As usual for Wilderness Trail, this bourbon is made using a sweet mash, meaning that they start from scratch every time, as opposed to a sour mash which uses a bit of the backset from a prior distillation. Interestingly, the label says that this bourbon was distilled on a copper column still. However, that’s a little “oops” moment, since Wilderness Trail only had a copper pot still 8 years ago. I’ll let them slide on that one; I know they’re excited!

Small Batch, Bottled In Bond, Kentucky Only

Wilderness Trail 8 Year Bourbon is a small batch, which in this case is 18-20 barrels. This bourbon is Bottled In Bond, so it’s 100 proof by definition. The first batch is being sold only at the distillery, with the second batch to be sold throughout Kentucky.

Tasting Notes – Wilderness Trail 8 Year Bourbon

Let’s taste it:

🛌 Rested for 15 minutes in a Glencairn

👉Nose: Vanilla, cherry, caramel, oak, honey, cinnamon, crème brûlée, light leather & cigar ash, but in a good way; moderate alcohol
👉Taste: Honey, caramel, cherry candy & cinnamon
👉Finish: The flavors continue and pick up some black pepper and cayenne spice. Cinnamon spice and cherry linger. There’s a little barrel char, too. It’s a fairly long finish with a moderate burn.

Conclusion

There’s definitely a noticeable difference between this Wilderness Trail 8 Year Old Bourbon and their regular release, which is around 5 years or so. The flavors are definitely more mature. Notably, this bourbon changed considerably after having a day or two to open up. The fruit flavors, as well as the more mature flavors, really developed, as did more complexity. This is all around a very enjoyable bourbon, and definitely worth the 8 year wait! Are you a Wilderness Trail fan? Cheers!🥃

I hope you have enjoyed my Wilderness Trail 8 Year Bourbon Review! Check out my Wilderness Trail Small Batch Wheated Bourbon Review and my Wilderness Trail 6 Year Old Bourbon Review!

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