Wilderness Trail 8 Year old Small Batch Bourbon - Review
History of Wilderness Trail Distillery
Wilderness Trail Distillery was founded by Shane Baker and Dr. Pat Heist in Danville, Kentucky, after years spent as fermentation consultants through their firm Ferm Solutions, earning a reputation as “the science guys of bourbon” before launching their own operation in 2012–2013. The distillery’s name and location pay homage to the historic Wilderness Road blazed by Daniel Boone, with the campus growing to more than 160 acres as production scaled. From the outset, Wilderness Trail distinguished itself with a sweet mash process—fermenting each batch with fresh yeast and no backset—paired with a low barrel-entry proof and meticulous control over grain quality and fermentation, setting a different course from the industry’s dominant sour mash approach.[1][2][3][4][5]
Early releases arrived in 2018, led by bottled-in-bond bourbons, including a wheated bourbon that was the first known sweet mash, bottled-in-bond wheated bourbon released in Kentucky since Prohibition. Recognition followed: Kentucky Manufacturer of the Year in 2016 and admission as the 18th stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail in 2020, marking the brand’s rapid ascent into the state’s top-tier producers. Wilderness Trail expanded from small pot still beginnings to a modern facility producing hundreds of barrels per day, with more than 100,000 barrels aging on its campus. In October 2022, Gruppo Campari acquired a 70% stake for $420 million, reflecting the brand’s value and growth trajectory within American whiskey.[2][3][4][6][1]
Background on the 8-Year Bourbon
Wilderness Trail’s 8-year bourbons build on its core practices: sweet mash fermentation, careful yeast management, and bottled-in-bond proofing at 100, with select releases offered as small batches or single barrels. The distillery has released both wheated and high-rye 8-year expressions, with the wheated version using a mashbill of 64% corn, 24% wheat, and 12% malted barley, and early batches distilled on pot stills prior to the installation of large column stills. Reviews and retailer notes identify these 8-year bottlings as limited, age-stated extensions of the flagship range, maintaining non-chill filtration and emphasizing the distillery’s preference for controlled small-batch blending (often around 18–20 barrels).[3][7][8][9][10]
The 8-year releases sit alongside milestone bottlings that underscore the brand’s commitment to patience and maturity, including a 10-year bottled-in-bond release drawn from Wilderness Trail’s second-ever barrel to mark the distillery’s 10th anniversary in 2023. Together, these age-stated expressions demonstrate Wilderness Trail’s evolution from a science-forward startup to a mature Kentucky house balancing innovation with traditional benchmarks like bottled-in-bond standards and extended aging.[5][1][3]
Review:
Nose: Vanilla and barrel spice start out on the first nosing. Oddly, even though this is 8 years old, it still comes off quite young on the nose with ethanol notes throughout. On the second nose, more floral “rose” like notes appear and for some reason I get some slightly sweetened iced tea. This smells like a light whiskey to me, which is odd, being a straight bourbon. Okay, last thing, I got grape cough syrup right before my sip. uhhh, huh?
Palate: Mildly oily on the palate and the honey note is the first thing that appears for me. Then it rounds off quickly to get into more vegetal notes like a mossy oak? This still tastes young to me, following from the nose. Cinnamon, ripe granny smith apples, almond extract and coffee grounds. There really isnt a whole lot here. It feels softer than 100 proo fon teh palate.
Finish: The kentucky hug holds ON in the back of your throat oafter having a sip. The flavors die off relatively quickly but the warmth of the spirit stays. The note that stays back is that mossy oak note I outlined earlier with nuttiness as well. I also get a little peppery notes sprinkled through the back end of the sip as it sits for a while.
Overall: (66). This was a bummer. Wilderness trail is a phenomenal distillery that made a name for itself rapidly in the ever evolving bourbon world over the past decade or so. This bottling smelled and tasted young from start to finish. I just kept taking a sip hoping there would be something else I missed, but I kept drawing a blank. I have heard wonderful things about the 8 year old wheated bourbon they offered (and to be completely transparent, I though this was that bottling when I bought it). Yeah yeah yeah, point and laugh.
Value: 25/100; (-5 on the overall). I paid $89.99 for this. I can name 15 bottles under $50 I would reach before this, unfortunately. I just feel that it hit the notes you would hit for a younger bourbon, but it didnt carry them through with the higher proof. There wasn’t much complexity, and the youthful alcohol notes really dampened some other flavors down.
Availability: Decently available. Wilderness Trail has barrel picks frequently with liquor stores for like $45- $55. I would go for those more quickly than this age stated version.
Citations:
1. https://www.wildernesstraildistillery.com/en-us/our-story/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilderness_Trail_Distillery
4. https://kybourbontrail.com/distillery/wilderness-trail-distillery/
5. https://vinepair.com/articles/ntk-wilderness-trail/
6. https://bourbonbrothers.com.au/blogs/news/about-wilderness-trail
7. https://elcerritoliquor.com/products/wilderness-trail-bottled-in-bond-8-year-750ml
8. https://bourbonobsessed.com/wilderness-trail-8-year-wheated-bourbon-review/
9. https://craftshack.com/products/wilderness-trail-bottled-in-bond-8yr-single-barrel-bourbon
10. https://seelbachs.com/blogs/news/wilderness-trail-8-year-bottled-in-bond
