Right now I am in the process of smoking my third ever brisket. I’m usually more of a pork butt guy, but I saw this at my local supermarket and felt like it needed to come home with me. Mostly because they never have cuts of meat that I’d want to smoke and, well, it’s cold out and I just plain miss smoking meat. (Though it is probably about right to smoke some cheese…guess I need to buy some more cheese.)
I don’t usually do brisket for a couple of reasons, one is that pork butt is cheaper than brisket and since I like them about the same, it is a better value for me. But the other is that I’ve never gotten brisket quite right. Now don’t get me wrong, it always tastes good. Just not as good as the stuff other people make. I know that comes with practice, but at eight to nine bucks per pound? Nah, I’ll practice on something else. I just don’t have the time or money to invest in that sort of thing.
Which sounds like a lot of people who used to get into the craft distillery business. Many of them didn’t have the time or money to put out a good product so they ended up putting out inferior ones and just hoped for the best. Some of those places weathered that, but most didn’t.
And then there were those who came along and had the money to have the time to put out a fully matured product. Those like Wilderness Trail, the producer of tonight’s bourbon. They wanted to put out a Bottled-in-Bond bourbon and, luckily they had the time to invest in the product. And the result was the yellow-labeled Wilderness Trail Single Barrel Bourbon. A single-barrel wheated bourbon produced using a sweet mash process. A very good bourbon that I enjoy quite a bit.
And now that even more time has passed we are treated to an even older version of that same bourbon. Their recent Silver Label Bourbon release is still wheated using the same mash bill: 64% corn, 24% wheat, and 12% malted barley. It still uses the sweet mash process. It’s just now six years old. Let’s see if it was worth the wait.
Wilderness Trail "Silver Label" Bottled-in-Bond 6- year-old Bourbon
Purchase Info: $79.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Binny’s Beverage Depot, Bloomington, IL
Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.33
Details: 50% ABV. Mash bill: 64% Corn, 24% Wheat, 12% Malted Barley. 6 years old.
Nose: A delicate mix of cinnamon, vanilla, cherry, and mint
Mouth: Cherry, cinnamon, caramel, cooked cereal, and a little mint.
Finish: Warm and medium length. Notes of warm caramel and cinnamon and just a hint of mint.
Comparison to Yellow Label: Yellow label shows more dried corn on the nose. The mouth of the yellow label is sweeter and fruitier with more grain influence.
Thoughts: The 6-year-old Wilderness Trail bourbon is a really nice upgrade to the standard single barrel yellow-label release. As is to be expected, the barrel influence is more pronounced leading to a drier and more refined bourbon. I really like this one.
Now here’s hoping my brisket turns out just as well.
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