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Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond vs Elijah Craig Small Batch
Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond and Elijah Craig Small Batch sit on opposite sides of a familiar divide: a new-wave, wheat-forward craft style versus an old-guard, classically built classic.
Key Specifications
| Feature | Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond | Elijah Craig Small Batch |
|---|---|---|
| Type / Style | Wheated Bourbon | Traditional Bourbon |
| Mash Bill | 64% corn, 24% wheat, 12% malted barley | 78% corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley |
| Age | 6 years | No age statement |
| Proof | 100 proof (50% ABV) +6 proof | 94 proof (47% ABV) |
| Approx. Price 1 | ~$45 – $60 | ~$28 – $35 ~$21 less |
- US shelf prices as of 2026-08; they vary widely by market.
AG’s Rating and AG’s Notes
Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond
Not rated yetNo notes yet.
Elijah Craig Small Batch
Not rated yetNo notes yet.
Flavor Profile
Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond Elijah Craig Small Batch
Axis by axis, biggest gap first
spice 3/5 spice: Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 3 out of 10, Elijah Craig Small Batch 5 out of 10
oak 5/7 oak: Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 5 out of 10, Elijah Craig Small Batch 7 out of 10
fruit 6/4 fruit: Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 6 out of 10, Elijah Craig Small Batch 4 out of 10
sweetness 7/6 sweetness: Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 7 out of 10, Elijah Craig Small Batch 6 out of 10
heat 5/4 heat: Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 5 out of 10, Elijah Craig Small Batch 4 out of 10
nuttiness 4/4 nuttiness: Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond 4 out of 10, Elijah Craig Small Batch 4 out of 10
Flavor Profile Differences
The gap between these two is mostly about spice.
- Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond: A sweet-mash, bonded wheated bourbon from a distillery founded by two fermentation scientists, and the technical care shows in how clean it tastes. One of the strongest craft arguments on the shelf.
- Elijah Craig Small Batch: A heavily oak-driven pour for the money, with vanilla bean and brown sugar riding on top of real char and smoke. The extra age shows up as wood depth rather than harshness.
Which One Should You Choose?
- Go with Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond if you want a bonded, sweet-mash wheater from a modern distillery doing genuinely careful work with slightly more proof behind it.
- Go with Elijah Craig Small Batch if you want the best oak-forward value on the shelf, with more wood character than its price suggests.
Best enjoyed neat, rocks (Wilderness Trail Bottled-in-Bond); neat, rocks, old-fashioned (Elijah Craig Small Batch).