Join Wilderness Trail Distillery's co-founders, microbiologist Dr. Pat Heist and Master Distiller Shane Baker, as they take you from Bourbon's beginning with yeast and a mash bill to filling your own bottle in the barrelhouse.
Taste and experience differences between yeast, sweet mash and sour mash, Kentucky water sources, various grains and processing. You also will examine how bacteria and other microbes play a role in flavor development.
By now, you have worked up an appetite and we aim to please with a barbecue lunch prepared by award-winning pitmasters and founders of the Kentucky State BBQ Festival, Brad and Cindy Simmons. While enjoying the meal by Lucky Dog BBQ, you can continue discussions with Dr. Pat and Shane, the brains behind Wilderness Trail's distilling operations.
Next, it's time to head to one of our rickhouses to put your expertise to work. This is the fun part, that has never been done before, so you will be the first! You will taste from a few hand selected barrels of our 4-5 year old Bourbon and 3-year old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey. After sampling, you have the opportunity to be among the first ever to go old-school in the rickhouse and fill a 750 ml bottle of Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey from the barrel at cask strength to take home.
Our Rye Whiskey is set to release in 2019-2020! This will be one of the super rare and limited opportunities to obtain a bottle of our 3-year old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, Single Barrel Cask Strength, while the majority of the barrels continue to age to our goal of 5+ years of maturation before being released.
