Unreined Opens the Gates to WildHorse Ranch
By Caleb Rhoades
The drive from Round Rock to College Station takes about two hours. Long enough to settle into the road trip, listen to a good podcast, and eventually pass Santa’s Wonderland, a familiar landmark for anyone who has driven through the area.
After making our way through Bryan and College Station, we turned onto Peach Creek Road and headed toward WildHorse Ranch. At first it felt like we might have made a wrong turn. It was a quiet country road without much indication that a whiskey destination was waiting at the other end.
Then we reached the gates.
“WildHorse” stretched across the entrance, and the GPS confidently announced that we had arrived. Those were the only two pieces of evidence suggesting we had not accidentally wandered onto someone’s very nice private ranch.
Beyond the gates, a narrow road led deeper into the property. Passing vehicles traveling in the opposite direction required a little cooperation, but when we rounded the final corner, there was no longer any doubt. The name “Unreined” stood prominently across the front of a large, barn-inspired building. A wild horse statue occupied the center of the gravel parking lot, and a Grand Opening banner welcomed visitors to the brand’s new home.
Unreined Whiskey had officially opened the gates to WildHorse Ranch.
A Kentucky-Style Rickhouse in Texas
WildHorse Ranch is a 600-acre working cattle and bison ranch outside College Station. At the center of Unreined’s operation is a four-story, 30,000-square-foot Kentucky-style rickhouse. Something you do not encounter often in Texas.
Many Texas distilleries age whiskey in barns, warehouses, or repurposed shipping containers. Those environments can produce excellent whiskey, but Unreined has taken a noticeably different approach. The rickhouse was built by a Kentucky company and designed to bring a more traditional bourbon-country aging environment to the Texas heat.
From the outside, it resembles a very fancy barn. Inside, it becomes clear that considerable planning, and presumably a respectable pile of startup capital, went into creating the experience.
As soon as we stepped out of the car, members of the Unreined team greeted us from the front entrance and ushered us inside. I lingered outside for a few photographs first. Priorities are priorities.
The ground floor entrance opens into a beautiful bar surrounded by shelves filled with different Unreined releases. It is an impressive introduction, although the space became crowded quickly as people gathered inside. That was when we learned there was a much larger bar and lounge upstairs, but decided to wait here until our tour began.
The Story Behind WildHorse Ranch
Our tour was led by Nelson Ingram, Unreined’s chief marketing officer and blender. Before taking us into the rickhouse, Nelson gathered the group around picnic tables outside and explained what we would see.
A native Texan and Texas A&M graduate, Nelson describes himself as a bourbon nerd. More importantly, he previously worked as an experience manager at Buffalo Trace Distillery. His experience showed immediately. He was knowledgeable, comfortable with the group, and able to make the tour educational without turning it into a college lecture delivered beside a barrel.
During the introduction, Nelson shared the story behind WildHorse Ranch.
The ranch’s owner, Joe, is a former Marine Corps pilot. His son, Jay, was born at a military base in Ohio near family property called Wildhorse Creek. After Joe retired from the military, he established WildHorse Ranch in Texas.
Jay later graduated from Texas A&M and became a serial entrepreneur. After visiting Buffalo Trace and meeting Nelson, he began developing the idea of building a whiskey operation on his father’s ranch.
That combination of Texas ranching, Aggie connections, entrepreneurial ambition, and Kentucky bourbon experience is visible throughout Unreined’s identity.
Whiskey Education, Straight From the Barrel
Unreined’s currently released whiskeys are sourced while the team works toward producing its own spirit. The company does not publicly identify every distillery behind those barrels - you know, NDA's and such - However, observant visitors may find that some barrels inside the rickhouse are not particularly skilled at keeping secrets.
Unreined has also contracted whiskey to its own specifications. We sampled some of that unaged spirit, or white dog, during the tour. It is now being barreled and matured at WildHorse Ranch while the team prepares to bring its own stills online.
The approximately one-hour tour moved through the rickhouse, where we sampled whiskey directly from a couple of barrels. From there, we continued into a dedicated classroom overlooking the ranch for a guided tasting of some finished blends.
For experienced whiskey enthusiasts, much of the educational material will likely be familiar. Still, Nelson was an excellent guide, and tasting inside a genuine rickhouse added something that cannot be recreated with a PowerPoint presentation.
The tour is particularly well suited for someone new to whiskey or visiting a distillery for the first time. It provides an approachable introduction to distillation, barrel aging, blending, and proof, with enough samples along the way to keep the class attentive.
Revisiting the Unreined Lineup
Before the tour, I ordered a flight featuring Unreined’s 95-proof six-year bourbon blend, its six-year Full Proof expression, and the newly released seven-year Wheated Bourbon.
I had previously reviewed both six-year expressions, and the Full Proof remained my favorite. This time, however, I picked up a bubble gum note on the nose that I had missed during my original review. Whiskey has a habit of revealing something different depending on the day, the setting, and apparently whether you are drinking it inside a working bison ranch.
The seven-year Wheated Bourbon is a 104.2-proof blend of straight bourbons distilled in Kentucky and Texas. I enjoyed it enough to bring home a bottle for a more careful review. Sometimes serious whiskey research requires making sacrifices at the gift shop.
I skipped the cocktails, but my wife tried one and gave it her approval.
Bourbon, Bison Burgers and Opening-Day Kinks
The upstairs lounge is where the scale of the visitor experience becomes apparent. A bar with granite countertops and black built-in shelving anchors the space, surrounded by comfortable leather seating. Large windows positioned behind the oversized Unreined lettering on the front of the building overlook the ranch.
A separate, smaller lounge offers a moodier atmosphere with plaid walls, darker lighting, historic firearms, Western artwork, a buffalo relief, and other pieces of ranch nostalgia. Behind the main lounge is the classroom used for tastings and educational events, also featuring a large window overlooking the property.
For the grand opening, guests could order cocktails and bison burgers made with meat raised at the WildHorse Ranch.
Our burger order briefly encountered the sort of problem expected during the first day of operation. We were told the kitchen might need to issue refunds because of trouble with the gas burners. A few minutes later, the staff announced that the burners were working again and the burgers would be out as quickly as possible.
The bison burger arrived without fancy presentation or unnecessary decoration. It was simply tender, flavorful, and excellent. At approximately $20 with fries, it was well worth ordering, and worth the brief uncertainty surrounding its continued existence.
A Polished Beginning
We spent around three hours at WildHorse Ranch. The grand-opening crowd appeared to consist primarily of local visitors, although I also encountered a few familiar faces from the Texas whiskey community.
The event was family-friendly, and several parents brought children. There was not much specifically intended to entertain younger visitors, however, so this is best viewed as a whiskey destination where children are welcome rather than a children’s destination that happens to serve whiskey.
What impressed me most was the facility itself. Unreined has not approached WildHorse Ranch as a temporary tasting room or a place to simply sell bottles. The team is building a complete visitor experience around the brand, with a legitimate rickhouse, two lounges, a classroom, guided tastings, cocktails, ranch views, and food connected directly to the property.
The Kentucky influence is unmistakable, but the setting remains firmly Texas.
Unreined’s brand identity is already among the most polished in the state. Its sourced blends are good, and the team has secured quality whiskey from inside and outside Texas. More importantly, it appears to have assembled people with the experience necessary to build something lasting.
The next question is what will happen when Unreined’s own distillate begins coming of age.
For now, WildHorse Ranch makes an excellent introduction to the distillery experience. Take the tour, learn a little about bourbon, order a cocktail, and save room for the bison burger. Even if the burner tries to intervene.
Unreined Whiskey at WildHorse Ranch is located at 1022 Peach Creek Road in College Station. Tours, current hours, and reservations are available through the Unreined Whiskey website.
