13 years after its founding (and 12 years after its first whiskey went into barrels), Wilderness Trail is launching a new series of single barrel whiskeys under the Family Reserve banner. These are all cask strength releases, non-chill-filtered, and created with a sweet mash instead of a sour mash. They are all aged in barrels featuring Level 4 alligator char and all three are 6 years old, selected by Dr. Pat Heist and his team.
Three different expressions are on offer — a wheated recipe bourbon, a high-rye bourbon, and a straight rye whiskey. We received both of the bourbons for review, but not the rye.
Note that these will be trickling out for pre-orders over the next month, with general availability arriving in early 2026.
Wilderness Trail Family Reserve Cask Strength Bourbon 6 Years Old, Wheated Recipe Review
Barrel #765288. 6 years old. 64% corn, 24% wheat, 12% malted barley.
Gentle and nutty, with significant almond notes and a layer of mint on the nose. The aromatics ultimately turn from fresh nuts to nut butter, with layers of milk chocolate providing a wintry, creamy cocoa quality.
The palate does not veer far from this setup, again nutty with notes of sesame, almond, and eventually more of a marzipan character, laced throughout with vanilla. Any suggestion of overt oakiness should be immediately quashed, as this is a slick, sweet, dessert-like operator through and through. The finish surprises, however, with a pinch of greener spices hinting at fennel and dill. Masterful and incredibly drinkable.
110.4 proof. A / $70
Wilderness Trail Family Reserve Cask Strength Bourbon 6 Years Old, High-Rye Recipe Review
Barrel #767903. 6 years, 6 months old. 64% corn, 24% rye, 12% malted barley.
On the nose: Bolder herbaceous notes, with layers of rosemary and thyme showing immediately. Sturdy and rounded, the whiskey has a frontier force that you can smell, reminiscent of saddle leather and split rail fences, with an anise-tinged oiliness, almost tarry at times.
The palate sears, though it’s just about 4% higher in abv than the wheater, the body rounder and more aggressive, with a bittersweet quality that bounces back and forth between charry oak and burnt sugar. Flavor isn’t hard to come by, the whiskey infused with darker chocolate, melted licorice candies, and well-torched caramel notes. It’s earthy and mushroomy on the finish, with a reprise of anise, kind of a theme in this tasting but particularly dominant here. Despite the grittier presentation, an overarching buttery character helps keep the bourbon from falling down a hole of pungency. This isn’t quite as special as the wheated recipe, but it’s absolutely solid in its own right.
119.7 proof. A- / $70
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