Wilderness Trail Settlers Select Rye

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.