A little background
As far as I am aware, Wilderness Trail has never sourced whiskey to release while their own distillate matured. So, I find it to be an interesting change to be able taste a new distillery’s distillate without comparing it to previously sourced releases. I had heard good things about the rye whiskey coming out of Wilderness Trail so when I say it on the shelf on my local liquor store I jumped on the opportunity to buy a bottle and spend some quality time with it. The Settlers Select Rye is a single barrel cask strength line that has recently reached the 4yr old mark and has a retail price of around $60-65. (This barrel was 112 Proof).
(Tasted neat out of a Glencairn.)
Color
Dark Gold
Nose
Oh, this is an inviting nose and the definition of a Butterscotch bomb with salted caramel, toffee, nutmeg, and clove.
Palate
The only way I can describe the palate is my Grandma’s candy dish. Butterscotch and toffee lead the way with peppermint and orange hard candy underneath.
Finish
Slight spirit burn on the tongue. Spice heavy with clove, allspice, nutmeg, and a slightly sweet citrus.
In closing
Wilderness Trail is onto something, whether that is the extremely low barrel entry proof of 100 or something entirely different I don’t know. What I do know is this rye is already a great whiskey with a very high ceiling. I am genuinely excited about this rye and will say that it more than stands up to other much more expensive ryes in a blind tasting (looking at you Kentucky Owl). I leave on this statement, if you like high proof rye whiskey go now and find a bottle of this you will not be disappointed.
Wilderness Trail Settlers Select Rye
112 Proof
The Good
- Butterscotch Bomb
- Incredible Value
The Bad
- Slight Spirit Burn on the Tongue
John Goodrum
5 Mar 2020My neighbor (who owns like two bottles of whiskey) introduced me to this rye after visiting the distillery last year. The couple of drams I had were from a nearly-empty bottle and I don’t know if that affected the taste, but if it didn’t this is my favorite non-Scotch whiskey to date. I have my own bottle ordered and I’m hoping I enjoy it as much as I enjoyed my first taste of it. Really awesome stuff!