Spirits · Danville, Kentucky
Wilderness Trail Distillery
Science-minded Kentucky bourbon and rye made by sweet mash in Danville.
- Founded
- 2012
- Founded by
- Shane Baker, Dr. Patrick Heist
- Based in
- Danville, Kentucky
Making it since
2012
Their story
Wilderness Trail was founded in 2012 in Danville, Kentucky, by Shane Baker and Dr. Pat Heist. Before making whiskey, the two ran Ferm Solutions, a company that helps ethanol plants and distillers with fermentation, yeast and process work. They brought that lab background straight into their own stills.
They started small in downtown Danville, making about two barrels a day. In 2016 they moved to a larger site on former farmland outside town and kept growing, adding a second column still and more fermenters over the following years.
In 2022 the Campari Group bought a 70 percent stake in the distillery, with an option to acquire the rest by 2031.
How it's made
Wilderness Trail uses a sweet mash process, starting each fermentation fresh rather than carrying over spent mash, along with an infusion mashing method. The team works with several mash bills and yeast strains, drawing on its fermentation background. Today the distillery can fill more than 250,000 barrels of bourbon and rye a year.
This is a win-win situation for both parties and we are very proud of this partnership
Why we carry them
We like a distillery that sweats the details, and these founders came to bourbon from the lab. The result is a clean, well-made whiskey that rewards a side-by-side tasting.
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