Wilderness Trail Small Batch Wheated Bourbon Review

Wilderness Trail
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Small Batch
Bottled In Bond
Wheated Bourbon
MSRP: $52.80 at the distillery
Review

Please enjoy my Wilderness Trail Small Batch Wheated Bourbon Review!

Making Changes To The Wheated Bourbon & Rye

The folks at Wilderness Trail Distillery have recently made some changes. First, their core products are all now small batch Bottled In Bond whiskeys. Therefore, the original single barrel barrel strength rye and single barrel Bottled In Bond wheated bourbon will now both be 100 proof small batch Bottled In Bond whiskeys. For those familiar with Wilderness Trail’s whiskeys, you’ll recognize that this change makes their parameters the same as the original High Rye Small Batch Bourbon. Don’t worry, single barrel barrel proof whiskeys are not gone. They will still be available in their Family Reserve line.

The Bottle Is Changing, Too!

The classic Wilderness Trail bottle is also changing. Although the current bottle is easily recognizable, it is not without issues. For example, due to its width, it might get turned sideways on a shelf. In addition, it’s a little wide, making it sometimes difficult to grip. All of these things will be changing with the new bottle.

Small Batch Wheated Bourbon Technical Details

Small batch for Wilderness Trail is 20 barrels or less, and the barrels in these batches will range in age from 5-6 years old. For example, the bourbon in the batch I am sampling was barreled in February 2017. So that makes it just over 5 years old when it was bottled. The mash bill is the same as the single barrel wheated bourbon that we know and love. It is: 64% corn, 24% wheat and 12% malted barley. In addition, Wilderness Trail Wheated Bourbon is matured in barrels made with 18 month air dried staves, which is longer than the industry standard. Barrels are toasted, char level is #4 and barrel entry proof is 110, all factors contributing to the flavor.

Wilderness Trail Small Batch Wheated Bourbon Tasting Notes

Let’s taste it:

🛌 Rested for 15 minutes in a Glencairn

👉Nose: Cookie dough, butterscotch, vanilla, light burnt caramel, butter, honey, allspice, oak; moderate alcohol; warm and soothing
👉Taste: Cookie dough, allspice, soft light caramel, touch of apple juice; oak and char
👉Finish: Flavors continue into the finish and pick up bit more char, oak and black pepper; fairly long with a moderate burn; char and oak linger

Summary

Wilderness Trail Small Batch Wheated Bottled In Bond Bourbon has rich, sweet, full flavors that make me feel like I am sitting by a fire on a cool autumn day. Although the flavor profile is similar to some of the other Wilderness Trail single barrels that I have had, there is something different as well. Maybe there’s a little more butterscotch, cookie dough and spice; that’s the magic of blending!

Are you a Wilderness Trail Distillery fan like me? Cheers!🥃

I hope you have enjoyed my Wilderness Trail Small Batch Wheated Bourbon Review! Then perhaps you would like to read about another Wilderness Trail Bourbon? Check out my Wilderness Trail 6 Year Old Bourbon Review or read more about the distillery in our Wilderness Trail Distillery Tour Review!

Would you like to learn more about distilleries and bourbon? Are you planning a trip to Kentucky Distilleries? Maybe you would like to live the bourbon life vicariously through us? If any of these are true, then check out BourbonObsessed.com today!