The Wilderness Trail Distillery in Kentucky has been around just a few years now, part of the growing number of craft operations existing in the shadow of the bigger bourbon makers out of that state. Such a position doesn’t stop innovation, however, which is what the folks at this distillery are undertaking as they team up with a farm to produce a special bourbon produced from a rare heirloom corn variety.
This as-yet-unnamed bourbon, according to the distillery, is being produced to commemorate the 225th anniversary of Kentucky’s statehood. Caverndale Farms, the farm that provides Wilderness Trail with its corn, wheat and rye for whiskey production, has sourced an original corn strain similar to what would have been planted when Kentucky became a state in 1792. The parent seed already is in the ground for this season, and, in 2018, a few acres of the heirloom variety of this corn will be planted at the distillery itself.
Plans call for this special bourbon, after it is mashed and distilled from the corn, to rest in barrel until Kentucky’s next major statehood anniversary in five years.
“We will make Bourbon from an original heirloom corn varietal that was grown at the time of our statehood,” said Shane Baker, one of Wilderness Trail’s owners in a prepared statement. “It will be grown and harvested to become a special limited edition of Kentucky Happy Anniversary Bourbon. It will be released to commemorate the 230th anniversary of Kentucky.”
For the curious, the corn type planted at Caverndale, when originally planted in the 1800s, typically only yielded 30-40 bushels per acre. Hybrids grown today, by contrast, can yield over 80 to 100 bushels per acre.
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