WBOY | Country Roads Trust Bourbon hitting shelves mid-December

By: Sam Gorski —

MORGANTOWN, W.Va (WBOY) — Country Roads Trust (CRT), a name, image and likeness organization for West Virginia University athletes (WVU), announced a partnership with West Virginia distiller and cidery Swilled Dog on Wednesday that will bring a limited-release bourbon batch to store shelves around the state.

“1863 WV Gold” is a straight bourbon Whiskey created by Swilled Dog in Upper Tract, Pendleton County. The 119-proof (59.5% ABV) bourbon is named after the founding year of the Mountain State and is aged for four and a half years in #3 Char American White Oak barrels. According to General Manager and Chief Operating Officer CRT Stephen Ford, 1863 WV Gold is only the first in a series of limited-release batches.

Only 1,260 bottles of 1863 WV Gold have been produced.

The bourbon sold out online in the first two hours of its release according to Ford. However, Ford said the bourbon will also be coming to physical stores in mid-December, and the quantities and locations it will be available at will be announced ahead of time so buyers and collectors will have the best chance to get their hands on a bottle.

Ford said the trust’s current plans are to release a new limited batch twice a year over three years, with each batch being different. However, he also stated that the rate of release is subject to change.

Earlier this year Country Roads Trust launched the Country Roads Trust Lager in a partnership with Big Timber Brewing in Elkins, West Virginia. When asked if the trust had more plans for other similar partnerships in the future, Ford said there was “more to come.”