A little background

Wilderness Trail Single Barrel Bottled in Bond Bourbon is made from a mash bill consisting of 64% corn, 24% wheat, and 12% malted barley which is then distilled in a copper pot and put into the barrel at 110 proof. This whiskey is then aged between five and six years in barrels that have been toasted and then get a #4 char. After aging, this whiskey is proofed to 100 proof and released as a single barrel product. This review will focus on a bottle from Barrel 16F1520C, with the understanding that single barrel bottling from any given distillery can vary a little bit or a lot. Wilderness Trail Single Barrel Bottled in Bond has a retail price of around $50 USD.

(Tasted neat from a Glencairn Glass)

Color

Polished Copper

Nose

Sweet corn and light brown sugar lift from the glass immediately. After a moment, fresh-cut timber, a funky oak note, and some barely floral notes develop. Not much ethanol heat is present, even straight out of the bottle.

Palate

A thick mouthfeel is the first thing I noticed, with a moderate amount of heat developing after that. There is a creme brulee-type vanilla, probably due to the #4 char, and a strong brown sugar note that lingers in the back of the palate.

Finish

The finish is very long for a 100 proof pour and starts with a strong sweet caramel and earthy white pepper note, that then fades to a gentler slightly grainy sweetness that melds with a touch of oak. While not terribly complex, the finish is long, steady, and satisfying.

In closing

Interestingly, while this bourbon is reportedly five to six years old and is coming out of #4 char casks, I still found a decent amount of youthful corn on the nose. That is not to say I didn’t enjoy it-in fact I liked it a lot and will certainly be adding a backup bottle to my cabinet. While a very tasty pour, I would say that a lack of depth/layering keeps it from being a perfect pour. At $50 for a single-barrel, bottled-in-bond bottle, this is a bourbon I’m definitely keeping on my shelf. With that said, I’d be interested to see if a little more age pushes some of the corn notes from the nose into sweeter caramel/toffee notes.

NOTE: The sample used for this review was provided at no cost courtesy of Wilderness Trail Distillery. We thank them for the sample and for allowing us to review it with no strings attached.