Wilderness Trail release later this month

[Mako254]

http://wildernesstraildistillery.com/events/

 

Going to need one y’all KY guys to hook me up. 

 

Have been excited about this since hearing about their distillery (and different approach) on the bourbon pursuit podcast. Hope some SBers can give is the low down. I look forward to this release and hope it makes an appearance in South Carolina before too long. 

[fishnbowljoe]

Hmmmmmmmm. 

 

Biba! Joe

[Kpiz]

Thanks for the heads up, Mako. The release event is on 4/28, which is the Saturday of The Sampler, so it's possible some SB folks will head over there.

[CUfan99]

On 4/10/2018 at 4:36 PM, Mako254 said:

http://wildernesstraildistillery.com/events/

 

Going to need one y’all KY guys to hook me up. 

 

Have been excited about this since hearing about their distillery (and different approach) on the bourbon pursuit podcast. Hope some SBers can give is the low down. I look forward to this release and hope it makes an appearance in South Carolina before too long. 

Of all the craft guys they've had on the podcast these are the ones I thought, "I'll buy a bottle of their stuff if I come across it."

[kcgumbohead]

Anyone interested might want to sign up for their "family tree" if a bottle purchase is in your plans. They are allowing reservations and claim that a good chunk of the inventory has been reserved. I plan to visit on the Sampler'19 trip. This is one of the craftys that looks genuinely promising, the taste will tell but I am cautiously optimistic.

[flahute]

These guys are yeast and fermentation experts and that's where it all starts so I'm optimistic as well. I've heard nothing but good things about their process.

[CUfan99]

The release was last Saturday. Any intel out there on the interwebs on how it went, or better yet, has anybody gotten a bottle or taste? I believe they released a BiB SB wheater and a cask strength straight rye 3 to 4 years old.

[tanstaafl2]

It was on the gazebo table. I recall that it was ok (a lot had been consumed at that point!) and had potential but like many of these kind of releases it seemed a bit pricey (I don't recall the exact price as I did not buy it) for what it was. Not excessively Peerless pricey but more typical craft pricey.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2018 by tanstaafl2

[CUfan99]

I think I saw $48 quoted somewhere. Thanks for the info. I was a little extra curious because I heard the owner of Jack Rose had to convince them to release some at only 4 years old. The owners were set on waiting to release it until it hit 6 years old.

[fatliberal]

I made a five-hour trip to pick up two bottles as I was on the family list. It is not worth the money. BIB taste is chemical - rubber. Big disappointment. But, found Blanton's on sale at the Danville Kroger and picked up other bottles at Costco in Florence and Willettt, so it was a worthwhile trip. In just a few years, the big KY stores - Party Source, Liquor Barn - seem to have less product. I think we're at the point where everyone has to take a deep breath enjoy their stocks. Evan Williams single barrel continues to be a reliable and widely available favorite.

[CUfan99]

On 5/6/2018 at 2:11 PM, fatliberal said:

I made a five-hour trip to pick up two bottles as I was on the family list. It is not worth the money. BIB taste is chemical - rubber. Big disappointment. But, found Blanton's on sale at the Danville Kroger and picked up other bottles at Costco in Florence and Willettt, so it was a worthwhile trip. In just a few years, the big KY stores - Party Source, Liquor Barn - seem to have less product. I think we're at the point where everyone has to take a deep breath enjoy their stocks. Evan Williams single barrel continues to be a reliable and widely available favorite.

Wow, that's disappointing to hear. I'm glad you found some consolation prizes though! Thanks for the post and welcome to the community! Don't be a stranger.

[WildernessTrace]

On 5/6/2018 at 2:11 PM, fatliberal said:

I made a five-hour trip to pick up two bottles as I was on the family list. It is not worth the money. BIB taste is chemical - rubber. Big disappointment. But, found Blanton's on sale at the Danville Kroger and picked up other bottles at Costco in Florence and Willettt, so it was a worthwhile trip. In just a few years, the big KY stores - Party Source, Liquor Barn - seem to have less product. I think we're at the point where everyone has to take a deep breath enjoy their stocks. Evan Williams single barrel continues to be a reliable and widely available favorite.

Hello,

 

It doesn’t sound like you had the experience that the majority of others had, which has been all very positive reviews.  In fact, the top whiskey experts in the world have weighed in with great reviews, Dave Scheurich, Bill Thomas Fred Minnick, Chuck Cowdery, BourbonTruth have all recommended our BIB and this is the first we have heard of someone not happy. 

 

With that being said, we reconginze a few things.  We released all “Single Barrel Bottled in Bonds”, 17 barrels to be exact.  Most will tell you that each barrel will give you something a little different even when all going into the barrels were the same.  To us that is what is cool about the taste from the science of different wood, different temperatures, different humidities, etc.  I personally can say that my favorite batches are in the C and D’s, while at the same time there is a solid base amongst all barrels but some do pop with more fruit and others maybe some spice but never harsh or chemical..

 

A long time ago when we started making whiskey, I asked an master distiller mentor in the industry “What do you do when that one person doesn’t like your Bourbon?”, I will never forget his response.. “that’s why there are other distilleries making whiskey. everyone has a different taste, keep doing what you do for those that love yours.”

 

However;

 

We would be more than glad to refund your purchase and let you try some other barrels, there is no way you will find what you described in our Bourbon.  If you are a Family Reserve member, we ask that you come back and we will set down and go through a flight with you to find the right expression you like. 

 

We will be coming out with a small batch 92 proof later this fall, that might be more to your liking?  It will be closer to our 5 year old as well.

 

Respectfully 

 

Shane Baker

 

Wilderness Trail 

[flahute]

^^^^^^^This right here is what a stand up company does even though they did nothing wrong.

[Mako254]

I was already excited about their bourbon. Even more so after this hands on response. Hope I can make it by Danville in October. 

[smokinjoe]

I don’t know.  I was thinking Fatliberal had simply poured himself a finely crafted rum by mistake when he reported the chemical rubber taste...

[fatliberal]

Mr. Baker, you make a very generous offer, for sure, and I sincerely appreciate it. I respect how you are doing business - I thought the letter on the unavailability of the special box was stand up and was grateful for your approach. It could have been an off day for me and I will go back to it in a few days to try again. If I still feel the same, I may take you up on your offer. If I don't feel the same, I will amend my post accordingly. I realize we all have different palates and preferences and the debate is part of what I enjoy about the bourbon experience. Thank you for responding.

 

There is no rum in my house, smokinjoe!

 

I appreciate and enjoy the civil discussions on this site.

[ThirstyinOhio]

20 hours ago, WildernessTrace said:

Hello,

 

It doesn’t sound like you had the experience that the majority of others had, which has been all very positive reviews.  In fact, the top whiskey experts in the world have weighed in with great reviews, Dave Scheurich, Bill Thomas Fred Minnick, Chuck Cowdery, BourbonTruth have all recommended our BIB and this is the first we have heard of someone not happy. 

 

With that being said, we reconginze a few things.  We released all “Single Barrel Bottled in Bonds”, 17 barrels to be exact.  Most will tell you that each barrel will give you something a little different even when all going into the barrels were the same.  To us that is what is cool about the taste from the science of different wood, different temperatures, different humidities, etc.  I personally can say that my favorite batches are in the C and D’s, while at the same time there is a solid base amongst all barrels but some do pop with more fruit and others maybe some spice but never harsh or chemical..

 

A long time ago when we started making whiskey, I asked an master distiller mentor in the industry “What do you do when that one person doesn’t like your Bourbon?”, I will never forget his response.. “that’s why there are other distilleries making whiskey. everyone has a different taste, keep doing what you do for those that love yours.”

 

However;

 

We would be more than glad to refund your purchase and let you try some other barrels, there is no way you will find what you described in our Bourbon.  If you are a Family Reserve member, we ask that you come back and we will set down and go through a flight with you to find the right expression you like. 

 

We will be coming out with a small batch 92 proof later this fall, that might be more to your liking?  It will be closer to our 5 year old as well.

 

Respectfully 

 

Shane Baker

 

Wilderness Trail 

I too purchased your whiskey, and in fact that was my bottle that was on the Gazebo table.  The bottle in question was an A batch, and I too found it raw with a chemical note that I did not like and struggled to finish.  In fact, I ended up giving away that bottle.  I purchased 4 bottles of your Wilderness Trail, two through the website and two additional once I was there including another A batch, and 1 B batch and 1 D batch.  While I was there on Saturday, I tried the C batch from the samples you were pouring out, and while still a bit youthful and grain forward for my liking, it was MUCH better than the batch A I opened up at the gazebo.

 

Any idea when we can expect the boxes to get shipped out?

 

 

Edited May 9, 2018 by ThirstyinOhio

[WildernessTrace]

4 hours ago, fatliberal said:

Mr. Baker, you make a very generous offer, for sure, and I sincerely appreciate it. I respect how you are doing business - I thought the letter on the unavailability of the special box was stand up and was grateful for your approach. It could have been an off day for me and I will go back to it in a few days to try again. If I still feel the same, I may take you up on your offer. If I don't feel the same, I will amend my post accordingly. I realize we all have different palates and preferences and the debate is part of what I enjoy about the bourbon experience. Thank you for responding.

 

There is no rum in my house, smokinjoe!

 

I appreciate and enjoy the civil discussions on this site.

Thank you, we really would like to see you happy and have trust in enjoying our whiskeys for years to come.   This first release was all wheated Bourbon and that was one reason in desiring to age until 6 years before any releases, however we felt the 4 - 4 1/2 year old was worth exploring now because as our aged stock gets older, we will not be releasing younger Bourbons like this recent release.  Once we hit six years, that will be our minimal on the shelf while the goal is complete maturation.  Thank you again and contact me at the distillery and we can follow up.  There are different expressions with different barrels throughout this release, be on the lookout for our small batch profile coming this fall, which will offer a consistency of course in the taste profile verses single barrels. 

[WildernessTrace]

2 hours ago, ThirstyinOhio said:

I too purchased your whiskey, and in fact that was my bottle that was on the Gazebo table.  The bottle in question was an A batch, and I too found it raw with a chemical note that I did not like and struggled to finish.  In fact, I ended up giving away that bottle.  I purchased 4 bottles of your Wilderness Trail, two through the website and two additional once I was there including another A batch, and 1 B batch and 1 D batch.  While I was there on Saturday, I tried the C batch from the samples you were pouring out, and while still a bit youthful and grain forward for my liking, it was MUCH better than the batch A I opened up at the gazebo.

 

Any idea when we can expect the boxes to get shipped out?

 

 

Thank you for the feedback!  There is some interesting variances between A verses B&C&D and C & D and then D, while again my current favorite is D batch and it has more expressive fruit and smoothness, almost more than its age.  While I have an open A24, that is a little spicer, more oak forward and drier finish and touch of sweetness.  What is interesting is that the A barrels are roughly 4 1/2 years old and the C & D's are closer to 4 years.   There is no doubt those will continue the up and down cycle of flavor development as they age and what age will that barrel really pop?   But this is exactly what we set out to do, simply explore a journey of our Bourbons and Rye Whiskeys maturing toward 6-8 years, this is just the first stop on the Trail and we know it will improve even more.

 

The boxes...  i will be sending out a note in our next newsletter explaining that whole situation but our goal was quality and we simply made a call to strive for the best and had them remade only to miss the deadline after being assured we would have them.   We hopefully will be having some arrive in the next week or so and then the majority in about 4 weeks.  We really apologize for those and if you message me, i will make sure all is in order to ship it to you very soon.

 

Crack that D bottle, those barrels were closer to the outer wall of the warehouse and the bottom row of the top rick in Warehouse A.  

[VAGentleman]

I went down and picked up my bottles this week.  I got 2 A bottles.  I also found a C bottle in a local liquor store while I was there.  I opened the C bottle and it was pretty decent.  No off flavors. It smells like bourbon, is pretty easy drinking and smooth if I dare say s you can tell it is a wheater.  Small amount of oak, a little bit of play doh which I find in some younger bourbons.  Its decent and I like it but think it could use another year or two of age, which I'n glad they're looking at doing