Wilderness Trail

Shane Baker and Pat Heist met at the University of Kentucky, played in a band together, then built Ferm Solutions, the fermentation consultancy that roughly 600 distilleries and breweries called when their yeast went wrong. In 2012 they built their own place in Danville and applied what they had learned.

Wilderness Trail ferments every batch sweet mash, using fresh ingredients each time rather than the acidic backset most Kentucky distilleries recycle from the previous run. They also enter the barrel at low proof and bottle unfiltered, both of which keep more flavor in the glass. The wheated bourbon runs 64 percent corn to 24 percent wheat, one of the highest wheat ratios in Kentucky. Softer than a standard bourbon without going thin.