Kjbarth Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 Latest Michael Veach blog compares some new BIB bourbons. He has an interesting comment about the Wilderness Trail bonded (teaser - for you SW fans). https://bourbonveach.com/2022/07/04/five-bottled-in-bond-bourbons-made-in-kentucky/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anwalt Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 22 minutes ago, Kjbarth said: Latest Michael Veach blog compares some new BIB bourbons. He has an interesting comment about the Wilderness Trail bonded (teaser - for you SW fans). https://bourbonveach.com/2022/07/04/five-bottled-in-bond-bourbons-made-in-kentucky/ Thanks for sharing. I will be staying in Danville for most of the KY trip August. Pretty central to Bardstown & Frankfort. Definitely need to stop at Wilderness Trail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geclbxf Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 2 hours ago, Kjbarth said: Latest Michael Veach blog compares some new BIB bourbons. He has an interesting comment about the Wilderness Trail bonded (teaser - for you SW fans). https://bourbonveach.com/2022/07/04/five-bottled-in-bond-bourbons-made-in-kentucky/ Let the tatering begin for Wilderness Trail.......... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzhead Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 WT is fine bourbon. The new BIB I want to try is FEW BIB. Their bourbon is the only craft that has stayed in my regular rotation for over four years now. As their regular bourbon attains greater age it has become rounded and balanced and full of flavor at its proof point. Alas, the BIB isn't to be found in Pennsy and NJ. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRich Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 On 7/4/2022 at 6:13 AM, Kjbarth said: Latest Michael Veach blog compares some new BIB bourbons. He has an interesting comment about the Wilderness Trail bonded (teaser - for you SW fans). https://bourbonveach.com/2022/07/04/five-bottled-in-bond-bourbons-made-in-kentucky/ I was there in April and tasted through their line then. Mike's take is a very long reach in my opinion. They are making it the "right" way at WT for sure but even the 6 year old left me thinking that this probably needs to be in the 7 to 9 year range. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzhead Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Wilderness Trail the closest thing today to Stitzel-Weller wheated juice? I don't know about that, but my vote goes to Old Elk Straight Wheat whiskey. That sure harkens back to that SW flavor for me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulO Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 On 7/4/2022 at 6:13 AM, Kjbarth said: Latest Michael Veach blog compares some new BIB bourbons. He has an interesting comment about the Wilderness Trail bonded (teaser - for you SW fans). https://bourbonveach.com/2022/07/04/five-bottled-in-bond-bourbons-made-in-kentucky/ As a long time bottled in bond fan, I found the article quite interesting. The only one I've tried from Mike's list is the Benchmark. I found the new Benchmarks to be exactly what I'd expect a younger version of standard Buffalo trace to taste like at differing proofs. Not a drain pour, but more in the category of well liquor. The other bottles from article may be difficult/impossible for me to find. Please don't tell the taters - closest thing to SW is Maker's Mark. But, given MM is easy to find and reasonably priced, they probably wouldn't believe it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shizzy Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 3 hours ago, Jazzhead said: I don't know about that, but my vote goes to Old Elk Straight Wheat whiskey. That sure harkens back to that SW flavor for me. Is this their own distillate or contract distilling with MGP on the wheated mash bill? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzhead Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 1 hour ago, Shizzy said: Is this their own distillate or contract distilling with MGP on the wheated mash bill? 1 hour ago, Shizzy said: Is this their own distillate or contract distilling with MGP on the wheated mash bill? Shizzy, this is 6-year old juice, so I assume that Greg Metze distilled it at MGP before moving to Old Elk. It is, I believe, a unique straight wheat mashbill, 95% wheat and 5% malted barley (no corn). I'm not aware of another distiller that uses this MGP mashbill; I assume Metze is distilling it now in Colorado. It comes as close to SW's wheated bourbon as anything I can think of. It tastes thick and rich. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shizzy Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 (edited) 55 minutes ago, Jazzhead said: Shizzy, this is 6-year old juice, so I assume that Greg Metze distilled it at MGP before moving to Old Elk. It is, I believe, a unique straight wheat mashbill, 95% wheat and 5% malted barley (no corn). I'm not aware of another distiller that uses this MGP mashbill; I assume Metze is distilling it now in Colorado. It comes as close to SW's wheated bourbon as anything I can think of. It tastes thick and rich. Interesting that you get similarities between the two given that one was a wheat bourbon with a minimum of %51 corn (likely closer to 70%) and the other is a wheat whiskey with 95% wheat. Yeah, I know Metze is also contract distilling with MGP. It's possible this is OE's mash bill, but distilled in Lawrenceburg. Believe they began in '13, but no idea when the wheat whiskey got laid down or where it was even distilled. Or when they even got a still for that matter. I've yet to try anything from them, but I'm starting to consider giving them a shot. Edited July 5, 2022 by Shizzy clarification 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzhead Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 7 minutes ago, Shizzy said: Interesting that you get similarities between the two given that one was a wheat bourbon with a minimum of %51 corn (likely closer to 70%) and the other is a wheat whiskey with 95% wheat. Yeah, I know Metze is also contract distilling with MGP. It's possible this is OE's mash bill, but distilled in Lawrenceburg. Believe they began in '13, but no idea when the wheat whiskey got laid down or where it was even distilled. Or when they even got a still for that matter. I've yet to try anything from them, but I'm starting to consider giving them a shot. Yes, it is not a bourbon mashbill, and it has been at least a year since I've had SW juice, but OE Wheat Whiskey reminds me of the richness of SW flavor. Of the OE products I've tried, all are pretty good but the Wheat Whiskey is IMO something special. Their rye mashbill bourbon, which leans heavily on malted barley, is a bit too sweet for my taste. Their wheated bourbon is pretty good, but it's their straight wheat whiskey that I keep coming back to. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shizzy Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 52 minutes ago, Jazzhead said: Yes, it is not a bourbon mashbill, and it has been at least a year since I've had SW juice, but OE Wheat Whiskey reminds me of the richness of SW flavor. Of the OE products I've tried, all are pretty good but the Wheat Whiskey is IMO something special. Their rye mashbill bourbon, which leans heavily on malted barley, is a bit too sweet for my taste. Their wheated bourbon is pretty good, but it's their straight wheat whiskey that I keep coming back to. I wonder what the double wheat will be like? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0895 Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 On 7/4/2022 at 7:56 AM, geclbxf said: Let the tatering begin for Wilderness Trail.......... Nah, Veach is a name only us nerds know. Now when Minnick says it, we're screwed. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnbowljoe Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 39 minutes ago, 0895 said: Nah, Veach is a name only us nerds know. Now when Minnick says it, we're screwed. LMFAO! I was just re-reading the posts in the Industry News thread about Jackie Zykan, and couldn’t help but wonder about Ol Freddy Boys article. Biba! Joe 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B3Nut Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 Hmmm....I see the Total Wine near me carries the Wilderness Trail BIB....hmmmm....anything close to SW piques my antennae... <perk> 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThirstyinOhio Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 I'm still not over how bad the initial release of WT was and just can't bring myself to purchase another bottle from them. Some of you may remember just how bad that was as I cracked a bottle at the Gazebo during the "sampler" the day it was released and that release was praised by Veach as well. Once bitten, twice shy..... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannabis Posted August 2, 2022 Share Posted August 2, 2022 Thanks for sharing. Bonded is my go to favorite purchase and sip most of the time. Glad to see more bondeds out there!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderKeg Posted August 3, 2022 Share Posted August 3, 2022 (edited) On 7/19/2022 at 1:50 PM, ThirstyinOhio said: I'm still not over how bad the initial release of WT was and just can't bring myself to purchase another bottle from them. Some of you may remember just how bad that was as I cracked a bottle at the Gazebo during the "sampler" the day it was released and that release was praised by Veach as well. Once bitten, twice shy..... Had the same reaction on the first WT wheater release (or at least it was an early one), but finally broke down and bought a more recent one - complete 180, very enjoyable now & bought a backup or few. I thought the early rye version was much better at the time. And just a couple thoughts on the article, I was personally underwhelmed by Benchmark when I brought one home from an IN trip. It wasn't bad by any stretch, just meh - gave me no real reason to grab it again over other options on the shelf. His comment about the 2yr wheater JC being even better than the JC BiB frankly scares the crap outa me - pretty much everything I've ever (foolishly) bought under 4 yrs has run the gamut from bleah to drain poor eligible. Actually just passed on a bottle recently after bad memories of SA Big Loser and Bluegrass came flooding back as I held and pondered the bottle. Snagged a lone Green River instead and ended up quite happy (and now searching for another). Edited August 3, 2022 by PowderKeg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueby Posted August 3, 2022 Share Posted August 3, 2022 I had a store pick WT wheater that I thought was excellent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts