{"title":"Wilderness Trail","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eWilderness Trail is what happens when scientists decide to make bourbon. Co-founders Dr. Pat Heist, a plant pathologist, and Shane Baker, a mechanical engineer, spent years running Ferm Solutions, a Danville company supplying yeast strains and fermentation expertise to distilleries around the world — meaning they were the people other distillers called when fermentation went wrong. In 2012 they opened their own distillery on the Wilderness Trace, the route Daniel Boone blazed into central Kentucky, in Danville, the state's first capital and its first legal distillery since Prohibition. The technical choices are the whole point. Wilderness Trail uses sweet mash exclusively — no sour mash backset, a far more demanding approach that requires meticulous sanitation and is almost unheard of at scale in Kentucky. It ferments with proprietary yeast, uses 100% Kentucky-grown grain, and enters the barrel at a notably low 110 proof, which pulls more sugars and less harsh tannin from the wood. Everything is bottled unfiltered at exactly 100 proof under bottled-in-bond rules: single distilling season, on-site aging for at least four years, bottled on-site. The core range is three mash bills — a wheated bourbon at 64% corn, 24% wheat, and 12% malted barley, one of the highest wheat ratios in Kentucky; a high-rye bourbon; and Settlers Select rye. Named the 18th stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail in 2020 and VinePair's Spirits Brand of the Year in 2021.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eBrowse our full Wilderness Trail collection with fast nationwide shipping delivered straight to your door.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"wilderness-trail-wheated-single-barrel-bourbon-whiskey","title":"Wilderness Trail Wheated Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey","description":"\u003cp\u003eWilderness Trail Wheated Single Barrel is one barrel of sweet-mash Kentucky wheated bourbon at 100 proof — Drinkhacker graded it B+ for buttered popcorn, chewy caramel, wintergreen, and cherry candy. Pat Heist and Shane Baker, the fermentation scientists behind Ferm Solutions, founded Wilderness Trail in Danville in 2013 and made sweet mash — a fresh fermentation every time, no sour-mash backset — the house rule; Campari bought a majority stake in 2022. The Wheated is a 64% corn, 24% wheat, 12% malted barley bourbon, sweet-mashed, barreled at 110 proof, aged at least four years in Danville, and bottled from a single barrel at 100 proof per the Bottled-in-Bond act; check your bottle for the barrel number. Drinkhacker: buttered popcorn and chewy caramel with wintergreen and cherry candy on the finish. Bourbon Obsessed and The Bourbon Road both note how the sweet mash keeps the wheat bright rather than heavy. Expect a soft, sweet, clean wheated bourbon — caramel, popcorn, cherry, a mint lift — with a gentle finish. Honest note: a bonded, single-barrel wheater from a serious Kentucky craft house at a price Weller hunters would kill for — for the wheated-bourbon drinker who wants something new and the Wilderness Trail fan. Neat or on a cube. Wilderness Trail, wheated, one barrel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuy Wilderness Trail Wheated Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey online with fast shipping right to your door.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chips Liquor","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":32168410873991,"sku":"C0002420L","price":56.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0057\/8089\/7892\/products\/Wilderness_Trail_Wheated_Bourbon.jpg?v=1579719220"},{"product_id":"wilderness-trail-single-barrel-rye-whiskey","title":"Wilderness Trail Single Barrel Rye Whiskey","description":"\u003cp\u003eWilderness Trail Single Barrel Rye Whiskey is the cask-strength rye from Wilderness Trail Distillery in Danville, Kentucky, founded by Shane Baker and Pat Heist, two fermentation scientists who became the first Kentucky distillers to embrace sweet mash instead of the traditional sour mash. Their rye is a three-grain recipe of 56% Kentucky-grown heritage rye, 33% corn and 11% malted barley, designed for broader balance than the typical high-rye whiskeys.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat really sets Wilderness Trail apart is barrel entry proof. The distillery fills its new, air-dried #4 char barrels at just 100 and 105 proof, the lowest entry proof in Kentucky, which pulls different flavors from the wood and means cask-strength releases vary in proof. Barrels are aged on the upper floors of the rickhouses for a minimum of four years, with regular releases running six to eight. Drinkhacker rated the single barrel rye an A-, finding lemon peel, baking spice and new leather developing into vanilla custard and orange creamsicle on the nose, orange citrus and clove with chili pepper and barrel char on the palate, and a creamy finish of flamed orange peel. Each bottle is one barrel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuy Wilderness Trail Single Barrel Rye Whiskey online with fast shipping right to your door.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chips Liquor","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":32291639033991,"sku":"C0002429L","price":59.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0057\/8089\/7892\/products\/Wilderness_Trail_Rye.jpg?v=1580344937"},{"product_id":"wilderness-trail-bottled-in-bond-bourbon-whiskey","title":"Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon Whiskey","description":"\u003cp\u003eWilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond is sweet-mash Kentucky bourbon from two fermentation scientists — Pat Heist and Shane Baker, whose Ferm Solutions consults for half the distilleries in America — and Drinkhacker graded the Small Batch A-. Heist and Baker founded Wilderness Trail in Danville in 2013 and did what almost no Kentucky distillery does: sweet mash, a fresh fermentation every time rather than a sour-mash backset, which they argue makes a cleaner, softer spirit — and Campari bought a majority stake in 2022 on the strength of it. The Bottled-in-Bond is Wilderness Trail's 64% corn, 24% rye, 12% malted barley bourbon, sweet-mashed, barreled at a low 110 proof, aged at least four years in Danville, and bottled at 100 proof from one season per the 1897 act. Drinkhacker on the Small Batch: sugary fruit — orange, cherry, peach — over baking spice and pipe tobacco, A-. The Whiskey Wash and Bourbon Paddy both note the clean, fruit-forward character the sweet mash produces. Expect a bright, fruity, spiced bonded bourbon with a soft texture and a clean finish. Honest note: the most scientifically serious craft distillery in Kentucky, making bourbon the old, hard way — for the drinker who wants a modern Kentucky classic and the reason the Del Mesa and Chips picks come from here. Neat or in an Old Fashioned. Wilderness Trail, bonded, sweet mash.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuy Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon Whiskey online with fast shipping right to your door.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chips Liquor","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":33453288030343,"sku":"C0002484L","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0057\/8089\/7892\/products\/Wilderness.TrailBlack.jpg?v=1585244499"},{"product_id":"wilderness-trail-rye-del-mesa-liquor-chips-liquor-private-selection","title":"Wilderness Trail Rye - Del Mesa Liquor \u0026 Chips Liquor Private Selection","description":"\u003cp\u003eWilderness Trail Rye Del Mesa Liquor \u0026amp; Chips Liquor Private Selection is a single barrel of Wilderness Trail Kentucky Straight Rye chosen by Chips Liquor and Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego and bottled at cask strength just for our customers. The barrel was aged four years and six months in an Independent Stave Company #4 char and roasted barrel in Rickhouse E at Wilderness Trail's campus in Danville, Kentucky.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWilderness Trail, founded by Shane Baker and Pat Heist, was the first Kentucky distillery to embrace sweet mash instead of sour mash, and its rye is made from a three-grain recipe of 56% Kentucky-grown rye, 33% corn and 11% malted barley, entered into the barrel at just 100 to 105 proof, the lowest entry proof in Kentucky. That low entry proof pulls a richer, sweeter set of flavors from the wood. Drinkhacker rated Wilderness Trail's single barrel rye an A-, describing lemon peel, baking spice, new leather, vanilla custard and orange creamsicle, then orange citrus, clove, chili pepper and barrel char. One barrel only, picked by tasting, and gone when it is gone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuy Wilderness Trail Rye Del Mesa Liquor \u0026amp; Chips Liquor Private Selection online with fast shipping right to your door.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chips Liquor","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":35658284859548,"sku":"C0003504L","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0057\/8089\/7892\/products\/WildernessTrailRye.jpg?v=1598218393"},{"product_id":"wilderness-trail-bourbon-whiskey-del-mesa-chips-liquor-private-selection","title":"Wilderness Trail Bourbon Whiskey - Del Mesa \u0026 Chips Liquor Private Selection","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a five-year Wilderness Trail single barrel picked by Del Mesa Liquor and Chips Liquor — the 24%-rye sweet-mash bourbon from rickhouse A, rick N7C2, bottled for San Diego. Pat Heist and Shane Baker, the fermentation scientists behind Ferm Solutions, founded Wilderness Trail in Danville in 2013 and made sweet mash — a fresh fermentation every time, no sour-mash backset — the house rule; Campari bought a majority stake in 2022, and the private-barrel program is one of the most respected in Kentucky craft. The Del Mesa and Chips barrel is the 64% corn, 24% rye, 12% malted barley bourbon, sweet-mashed, barreled at 110 proof, aged five years in rickhouse A at position N7C2, and bottled from that one barrel; check your bottle for the proof. Expect the Wilderness Trail signature with an extra year: bright fruit — orange, cherry, peach — over caramel, baking spice, and pipe tobacco, a soft, clean texture, and a warm, spiced finish. Honest note: Del Mesa and Chips pick together and taste blind, and this barrel exists nowhere else — a San Diego bottling of the most scientifically serious craft bourbon in Kentucky. Neat, a drop of water. Wilderness Trail, A-N7C2, ours.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuy Wilderness Trail Bourbon Whiskey Del Mesa \u0026amp; Chips Liquor Private Selection online with fast shipping right to your door.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chips Liquor","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":35658410360988,"sku":"C0003505L","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0057\/8089\/7892\/products\/Wilderness.TrailBlack_b7598706-1a85-4d42-9a61-e368e2fed596.jpg?v=1598218934"},{"product_id":"wilderness-trail-brothers-of-destruction-bundle-set","title":"Wilderness Trail Brothers of Destruction Bundle Set","description":"\u003cp\u003eBrothers of Destruction is a two-bottle set of Wilderness Trail private barrels picked together by Del Mesa Liquor and Chips Liquor — two San Diego selections from the Danville sweet-mash distillery, sold as a pair. Pat Heist and Shane Baker, the fermentation scientists behind Ferm Solutions, founded Wilderness Trail in Danville in 2013 and made sweet mash — a fresh fermentation every time, no sour-mash backset — the house rule; Campari bought a majority stake in 2022, and the private-barrel program is one of the most respected in Kentucky craft. The Brothers of Destruction set pairs two barrels the Del Mesa and Chips teams selected side by side — the name a nod to the tag team — each bottled from its own barrel; check the bottles for mashbill, age, and proof. Expect the Wilderness Trail signature in two voices: bright fruit — orange, cherry, peach — over caramel, baking spice, and pipe tobacco, soft, clean texture, warm spiced finishes, and the differences two barrels bring. Honest note: private barrels sold as a matched pair are rare and this is the only way to get both San Diego picks together — for the Wilderness Trail collector, the tasting night, and the gift for someone who compares barrels. Pour both, same glass, same night. Brothers of Destruction, Del Mesa and Chips.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBuy Wilderness Trail Brothers of Destruction Bundle Set online with fast shipping right to your door.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chips Liquor","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":35658491003036,"sku":"C0003506L","price":99.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0057\/8089\/7892\/products\/wildernessetwins.jpg?v=1598219303"}],"url":"https:\/\/chipsliquor.com\/collections\/wilderness-trail.oembed","provider":"Chips Liquor","version":"1.0","type":"link"}