Kentucky, Day 3: Lawrenceburg

Day 3 loomed large on my schedule and, sure enough, it did not disappoint. A lot of alcohol was consumed.

Before Austin, Nichols & Co. changed the distillery's name to match the brand, Wild Turkey Distillery was known as Old Ripy, Old Moore, Old Hickory Springs, Ripy Brothers, Anderson County, and J. T. S. Brown & Sons Distillery. Master Distiller Jimmy Russell has been there since the Ripy family broke ground on the original facility in 1850. Just kidding, a little bit. Jimmy Russell has been working at the distillery for a mere 71 years.

Wild Turkey and its warehouses sit on a gorgeous piece of land bursting with greenery on the day of my visit, thanks to all the downpours.

Here's a pro amateur tip: Go to the toilet before any distillery tour starts, but also leave time to do so. Three times during this Kentucky trip, I ran out of the bathroom, chasing after my tour group, struggling to zip up my fly on at least one occasion.

Wild Turkey grows their yeast on site, from a batch started over 70 years ago, though the Mother is kept in a lab in San Diego, as a precaution. They source their corn from Kentucky, rye from Poland, and barley from Montana (where it's malted). Their mash gets a 72-80 hour fermentation until the distiller's beer reaches 10-12%abv. This cloudy sweet stuff then gets fed into the 52-foot Vendome column still for the low wines, then to the doubler pot still for the high wines. The spirit (which often reaches 65%abv) is reduced to 57.5%abv before barreling. 850,000 of these barrels are currently turning the spirit brown in the company's warehouses.

Warehouse A was built in 1894, and it looks all of its 131 years,
in a good way.

Here's a random bit of trivia: Nearly all of Wild Turkey's emptied barrels are used by Midleton Distillery for Jameson whiskey, out Ireland-way. This practice started back when Wild Turkey and Jameson were both owned by Pernod Ricard, and despite WT's sale to Campari Group in 2009, this part of the supply chain continues.

According to Dwight, the tour leader who balanced loads of information with an excellent sense of humor, the company's current 101 bourbon is 6-8 years old, while the 101 rye is from 4-6 year old lower rack barrels. Their Rare Breed bourbon contains 6, 8, and 12 year old whiskies, while the Russell's Reserve barrels (150 per batch) come from the center of the Nelson & Tyrone rickhouses.

As the tour and its tasting concluded, the smell of smoky pulled pork crept into the room. I followed my nose to the second floor bar and kitchen, whereat I consumed multiple sliders filled with said salty goodness, chasing it down with the rich Russell's Reserve 13 year old.

And that's how my day began. I needed two hours to simultaneously dry out and hydrate up. Then it was off to...

🌹 🌹 🌹 🌹 

When asked what my favorite bourbon brand is, I often say Four Roses. And I don't think I'm lying about it. Aside from the transparency about 10 different bourbon recipes, they also make some reliably very good whiskey under $50. Also, OBSK rules.

I'm looking at my mess of Four Roses notes, and the memories are kinda blurry, except when the reflux (esophageal, not still-related) kicked in at the end of the tasting, probably because I had a freaking cocktail before the tour began. So, I'm just going to list the information and skip any commentary.

Oh look, more rain.

Similar to Wild Turkey, Four Roses sources their corn from Kentucky, rye from Eastern Europe, and barley from Montana. They also grow their two yeast strains on site. Combining those elements with water from the adjacent limestone-rich Salt River, they give the mash an 84-hour fermentation to produce an 8%abv distiller's beer. They use two 45x4 column stills for the first distillation, and a pot still doubler for the second, creating a high wine of 69%-70%abv. This is then reduced to 60%abv for (#4 char) barreling. Four Roses uses single story rickhouses, with barrels stacked six high, in order to maintain control.

The Spanish Mission style facility was known as Old Prentice Distillery back when it was built in 1910. It was owned by Seagram from 1943 to 1999 after which it bounced between Vivendi Universal, Pernod Ricard, Diageo, and finally Kirin across less than three years. Current owners, Kirin, put an end to Four Roses Blended Whiskey to focus on the distillery's bourbon.

Their standard Four Roses bourbon comes from a mix of all 10 recipes, using 5-7 year old barrels. The Small Batch is "a little older" and contains just the K and O recipes. Their newer Small Batch Select is non-chillfiltered, and is fashioned from six of the recipes.

To my great surprise, the gift shop had a single barrel of high-powered OBSK on offer. So I took them up on a bottle, in exchange for money.

Yes, I got back to the hotel safely, after which I watched Manos, Hands of Fate (MST3K style). As I drifted to sleep, I promised myself I would never visit more than two distilleries in one day. I'm a promise-keeper, so I toured no more than two distilleries the following day...

Russell's Reserve 1998

The Russell's Reserve brand produces some very reliable American whiskey, so I was very thankful when my friend, Secret Agent Man, offered up a pour of his bottle of the extra-limited 1998 vintage release. According to The Whiskey Jug and Breaking Bourbon, the bourbon spent 15 years in oak, then was put into steel for two years when the Eddie Russell saw that the 23 barrels' contents were evaporating faster than expected. More time in the barrels would have risked “less desirable flavors [taking] over.” Kudos to the Russells for opting against the larger age statement! I knew none of these things when bottled up my sample ten months ago, nor did I realize how desired this whiskey had become.

Brand: Wild Turkey

Owner: Gruppo Campari
Range: Russell's Reserve
Distillery: Wild Turkey Distillery
Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 13% Rye, 12% Malted Barley
Age: around 15 years old (1998-2014 in oak)

Outturn: 2,070 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 51.1%

 (thank you to Secret Agent Man for the sample!)

NOTES

The nose is very almondy: roasted almonds, almond extract and amaretto liqueur. There's also raspberry fruit leather and cherries in milk chocolate right in the middle, and a teeny bit of old rye in the background.

The palate has less of a woody bite than yesterday's 9 year old Evan Williams. The almond notes are gentler here than in the nose. Lots of toasty notes. Pinches of salt and tartness. It develops cherry and blackberry notes with time.

Like the palate, the finish shows more toastiness than barrel char. Some salt and savory notes. A little bit of rye and a few tart berries in the back.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This a very nice bourbon that I wouldn't mind sipping in any season, under any circumstances. Despite the aggressive evaporation, the oak and the alcohol are very well incorporated. Is it luxurious? Yeah, probably a little bit. It's certainly better than the majority of the BTAC and Pappies I've tried. As far as the original $250 price tag? I guess if this was going to be Wild Turkey's fancy bottle, at least the quality is there.

But then this:

This is why I've lost interest in bourbon. Sometimes we can choose what we let in and what we don't. The world offers me plenty of hues and tones of Batshit Crazy on a daily basis. This one ain't worth it.

Availability - If you want it, you can find it.
Pricing - potato
Rating - 88

Wild Turkey 101 Rye Taste Off: 2011 bottling versus 2018 bottling

In 2012, Wild Turkey 101 Rye was great and it was $20. I remember one of Bacardi's distributors telling me that demand had exceeded supply, and that 101 Rye would soon disappear from shelves. In my 2012 naïveté I thought, "Huh, that sounds kinda concerning." The rye was gone that very month.

Three years later it returned with a 50%-100% price jump and a 33% larger bottle (750mL to 1000mL). It was another four years before I bought a bottle of the new stuff. And it took me another two years to do this comparison.

And only now am I appreciating how much more useful this review would have been SIX YEARS AGO. Nothing if not timely around here.

I could have taken a worse picture too,
but that would've just been showing off.

The sample of the old label 2011 bottling on the left was from the bottle I reviewed 105 moons ago. The sample on the right is from the 2018 bottling I bought and finished in 2019-2020. Both ryes performed very well in Manhattans and Old Fashioneds, here's a look at the two served neatly:

Wild Turkey 101 Rye, 50.5%abv, bottled 2011

In the nose, apples and pears stew slowly with cinnamon and cloves. Smaller notes of thyme, blossoms and creamsicles float in and out. Gentle barrel char mixes with cherry bubblegum.

Fresh cherries and cherry lollipops meet in the palate, followed by ginger beer, sweet red plums, cassis and applesauce. The char moves from the rear to the fore with time, though the fruits always remain.

The cherries, plums and ginger remain in the finish, with a pinch of pepper in the background.

Wow, this was great! I'd even keep it away from the cocktails and just sip it neatly. Between this, the earlier Rittenhouse BIBs and Willett's LDI single barrels, we were spoiled ten years ago. I should have bought more etc., etc., etc. Damn.

RATING - 88

---

Wild Turkey 101 Rye, 50.5%abv, bottled 2018

The nose begins simpler. Plenty of cherries, some split lumber, more citrus and cardamom. More pepper, more ethyl. Mint, flowers and something beefy in the background.

The palate feels rougher, slightly hotter. I find more char and peppercorns, reminding me of the 101 Bourbon. Moderate notes of soil, salt and savory roll through the midground. Cherry lollies and apricots highlight the background.

Barrel char leads the finish, with cherries and salt appearing later.

Compared to the 2011, this one has more aggressive oak and youthful jagged edges. It's fine and sturdy on its own but works much better when giving Manhattans more heft. And if you dare to pour it over one large ice cube, you may find it does its job as a summer sipper.

RATING - 82

---

Though the 2011 wins outright with its fruits and gentler maturation, it's not like one can just choose between these two ryes in a store. The latter bottling is what's on the shelf, and the former is priced high on the secondary market. No, the current edition isn't $20, but at $34 for one liter, it's one of the better options in that price range in most states. (Though I'd give Old Forester Rye the edge.)

Russell's Reserve Single Barrel Rye (current green label)

This was the first new whisky I tried when I moved to Ohio almost four years ago. And by "new" I mean this green label version of Russell's rye is on a different plane than the old version. My first reaction was (per my notes), "dessert rye, but without going the full gooey like Angel's Envy". I'd been looking for a regular fancy-ish rye to replace Rendezvous Rye (since High West changed the recipe), which had replaced Willett (since Willett had capital "A" Arrived). This is a quality nominee.

Brand: Wild Turkey

Owner: Gruppo Campari
Range: Russell's Reserve
Distillery: Wild Turkey Distillery
Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Mash Bill: 65% rye, 23% corn, 12% barley (maybe)
Age: ???

Bottle code: LL/FC151802 B1702D0159

Alcohol by Volume: 52%

(from bottom third of my bottle)

The nose begins with a mix of spices, from baking spices to dried chiles. Then there's brown sugar, dried pineapple, sour apple candy, mint extract and anise. Some hints of salt water taffy, brine and bacon in the background as well. The palate's sweet, minty element stays balanced by tart citrus and wood smoke. Some salt, maple syrup and brown sugar in there. Just a little bit of canned pears too. The finish keeps the palate's equilibrium. Sweet (brown sugar and honey) and tart (lemons and limes) with bits of dusty ground pepper and wood smoke.

This rye manages to be both surprisingly complex and very very easy to drink. I'd given up trying to find both those qualities in an contemporary American whiskey, but maybe I shouldn't have. It also works well in a Manhattan, if you're in the habit of applying $65 whiskey to a cocktail. Whenever we empty our current open rye bottles, I'm going to pick up another bottle of this stuff. Hopefully the quality continues!

Availability - Most specialty retailers in the US
Pricing - $55-$75
Rating - 88

Russell's Reserve Single Barrel bourbon, barrel 93 for Cleveland Bourbon Club

This is from my actual bottle, but I can't find any bottle pics. I saved this sample, then sent some out to friends around two years ago. This Russell's Reserve was CBC's second bourbon selection ever and, more importantly, a good bottle that drank fast. I drank this sample alongside Monday's Russell's 10yo and *SPOILER ALERT* the competition was over quicker than it began.

Brand: Wild Turkey

Owner: Gruppo Campari
Range: Russell's Reserve
Distillery: Wild Turkey Distillery
Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Mash Bill: around 13% rye (probably)
Age: around 8 years old

Exclusive to: Cleveland Bourbon Club
Alcohol by Volume: 55%

(from somewhere in my bottle)

One notices immediately how much calmer the nose is despite the higher ABV and shorter maturation time, when the whiskey is compared to the Russell's 10yo. There are cherries, mixed nuts, toasted sesame seeds, roses, black raisins ...... yes, I'm going to go on ...... cotton candy, vanilla bean and hints of Elmer's glue and ground mustard seed. The palate leads with lots of citrus and marasca syrup. Then sea salt, dark chocolate and mild oak notes. It gets sweeter with time. The sweet, fruity finish (think cherry syrup and clementines) has a good length to it, and no weird tannins.

Yum. The winning combo here is more fruit, less tannin. And, yes, I probably should have gotten another bottle. We all know that tune. I enjoyed this pick while it lasted, in fact it's my only bourbon bottle in the past four years whose contents never swam in a cocktail. If bourbon was usually this good, I'd buy more bourbon! It's about time I try the regular version of this stuff, and I'll attempt to keep my expectations in check.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ????
Rating - 87

Russell's Reserve 10 year old bourbon (current white label)

The 14 or 15 weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day used to mark my Bourbon Season. But over the past three years cocktails have gradually replaced bourbon during the hot weather, even though I live much closer to Bourbon Country than I used to. Russell's Reserve 10yo used to be a preferred bourbon as well, but my last bottle was forgettable at best. In fact, some friends and family finished off the bottle for me during the winter holidays. I saved two ounces for an official review, and since summer has begun....

Brand: Wild Turkey

Owner: Gruppo Campari
Range: Russell's Reserve
Distillery: Wild Turkey Distillery
Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Mash Bill: around 13% rye (probably)
Age: minimum 10 years old

Bottling code: LL/HH270507
Alcohol by Volume: 45%

(from the bottom third of my bottle)

It noses like I'm trapped inside a freshly charred barrel. That may sound heavenly to some folks, but I really can't detect anything else coming from the whiskey for a while, in fact it takes more than 20 minutes for other notes to appear. Then there's honey, orange peel, walnuts, newspaper and a hint of soap. The palate isn't as tannic as expected, instead there's some simple sweet citrus, tart blackberries, caramel and black pepper. But then it gets very very sweet, and the sawdust comes blowing in. It finishes with caramel, bitter oak, salt, tart berries and sawdust.

The last of my notes read, "Just not feeling this batch." (Curiously, the words "Small Batch" which were on the previous label-style of this expression are now absent. Is it because maintaining a straight face while calling these batches "small" became impossible?) The bourbon felt disposable, or at least interchangeable with younger, cheaper, historically-crappier stuff. It shows less bitter oak on the palate than WT101, but it's possible that 101's nose is better. The aggressive sweetness may also require extra tinkering when one uses this bourbon in cocktails. In case this is just a batch issue, I've listed the bottling code in the info section above. If it's not a batch issue, then RR10 isn't what it used to be.

Availability - United States and Japan
Pricing - $30-$50
Rating - 78

Killing Whisky History, Episode 14 - Three Decades of Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon

Submitted for your approval or at least your analysis: The legacy of Austin, Nichols & Company, three ways.

--Wild Turkey 8 year old 101 bourbon, bottled in 1983

--Wild Turkey Old No. 8 Brand 101 bourbon, bottled in 1996

--Wild Turkey 101 bourbon, bottled in 2010


I wish that beard well. It went bye-bye after filming. *sniff* Oh sweet beard, I will never be able to grow you again. At least not until tomorrow.

Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: Wild Turkey 17 year old 1996 Master's Keep

STORY

I've read some conflicting information about Master's Keep, so I'm just going to reference an interview with Eddie Russell that Fred Minnick had recommended in his own review.

The Keep's spirit was distilled in 1996 by Eddie's pop, Jimmy. At the time, Wild Turkey was short on storage space in their own warehouses, so they rented space in the defunct Old Taylor / Stone Castle distillery's valley warehouses. Wild Turkey's warehouses are "metal-clad" but Old Taylor's were made of brick, which kept the climate cooler during the summer. In 2003, they moved the barrels out of Old Taylor and into another brick warehouse that was located at a higher election. The barrels were then moved to Wild Turkey's wood and metal warehousing in 2010.

This brick warehouse maturation resulted in a lower ABV than if the barrels had spent their lives in a WT warehouse. Due to the cooler climate, the alcohol evaporated quicker than the water, like it would have in Scotland. In a hotter environment like a WT warehouse, the water would likely have evaporated first, resulting a 17 year old whisky with an ABV higher than its barreling strength. Instead, The Master's Keep's full strength was 43.4%abv when it was bottled.

Unlike most long-aged American whiskies, The Master's Keep did not immediately sell out, even though it was cheaper than many bourbons in its age range. Perhaps that's due to its lower alcohol volume, as many whisk(e)y drinkers are seduced by a high proof. Or perhaps, it's still on quite a few retailer shelves two years later because the limited outturn was 36,000 bottles.

STATS

Brand: Wild Turkey
Owner: Gruppo Campari
Distillery: Wild Turkey Distillery
Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Warehouse: see notes above
Type: Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Mash Bill: 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% barley
Age: at least 17 years
Distillation Year: 1996
Release Year: 2015
"Limited" bottling: 36,000
Alcohol by volume: 43.4%
(Thank you to Ms. Sing for the sample!)

REVIEW

The nose is soft, very soft, almost not there, at first. It takes some time (20+ minutes) to wake up. Then it's lightly woody, with caramel and vanilla. Lots of vanilla, actually. A little bit of pine, cream soda and fudge. Pleasant. The light, polite palate is almost floral with very little woody bitterness and no tannic drying. It has a nice spicy zing and feels fizzy on the tongue. There are some Werther's Originals and tangy oranges in there somewhere. It finishes with that zing and tang. The nose's vanilla returns. A slight green leaf chlorophyll note. Then a cigar tobacco note. It lingers long.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This is a long-matured bourbon for people who dislike liquid furniture (also known as long-matured bourbon). The oak is remarkably gentle. And there's nothing really wrong with the whole package. There's also nothing really great about the whole package either. The finish's length is certainly the highlight. Otherwise, it's a nice mellow bourbon, a casual sipper, something I'd be happy to pay $30 for. But that's the catch. Though one can find it for 1/10th the price of Pappy 20, it's also 5x the price of a superior Elijah Craig.

Availability - Many specialty liquor retailers in the US
Pricing - $120-$180 in the US, similar in Japan, a hundred dollars more in Europe
Rating - 83

Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit, barrel 176 for Cleveland Bourbon Club

Are you still full from Thanksgiving or are you chewing on a cold drumstick as you read this? Well, how about a serving of Wild Turkey, the most relevant whiskey for Turkey Day? Though there's also that viski Tekel distills in Ankara...which is the capital of Turkey. Man, this intro is crap.

I had the pleasure of obtaining a bottle from a Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit single barrel purchase by the Cleveland Barrel Club. My bottle was promptly opened but has not been drained terribly quickly. At the time of typing, I'm still not at the midpoint of the bottle. But it's time for a review!

I only realized yesterday that the bottle's frilly ribbing
was meant to depict a turkey's tail feathers. I'm slow.

Brand: Wild Turkey
Owner: Gruppo Campari
Distillery: Wild Turkey Distillery
Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Mash Bill: 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% barley
Age: 8 years 8 months
Bottling date: September 8, 2016
Barrel #: 176
For: Cleveland Bourbon Club
Alcohol by volume: 50.5%

NEAT
The nose starts out very woody, with ashy wood smoke, sawdust and tree bark. Slight vegetal note, with soy sauce underneath. LOTS of corn chips. Fryer oil meets dijon mustard. The palate is also woody, but less so than the nose. It's very minty with lemon and a slight medicinal tinge. Some low rumbling rye. Hints of raspberries, almonds and hazelnuts. The finish is very tannic and drying. But it also has substantial notes of raspberries and cherries. Some more lemon and a peppery tingle. Long and sweet.

WITH WATER (~40.5%abv, from 101 proof to 81 proof)
The nose has softened considerably. Some barrel char. A little bit of rye and mint. Slight manure note. Not much else. The palate has also gotten milder, but has a good herbal bitterness to it, meeting up with the corn sweetness. Still has some of that berry fruitiness. It finishes with barrel char, cherry-flavored cough syrup and cracked black pepper.

AS A HIGHBALL (1:1 ratio and few shakes of Angostura bitters)
It performs best here. The spices from the bitters meets well with brown sugar and fruit from the bourbon. A good drink. I've enjoyed it two nights in a row.

I struggle a little bit with Wild Turkey's products. I do not like their 81 proof bourbon and rye, nor their regular 101 bourbon. But I like Rare Breed and all the Russell's Reserve whiskies. This one sits somewhere in the middle. Its strange nose might be kind of cool if not for the aggressive wood. The palate is pretty decent, especially when the fruit appears. As with the rest of their whiskies, I don't recommend proofing it down to 40.5%. But BUT it works very well as a highball, which I'll probably be using it for going forward.

Availability - Exclusive to the Cleveland Bourbon Club
Pricing - sold out
Rating - 80 (bonus points for the good highball)

NOT Single Malt Report: Russell's Reserve Small Batch 10 year old Bourbon

Follow me as I leave Beam Suntory for Gruppo Campari.

Russell's Reserve is a brand within a brand (Wild Turkey).  It's a line of age-stated bourbon and rye honoring the Russell family who have been Wild Turkey's master distillers for decades.  There's a 10 year old small batch bourbon (45%abv), a 10 year old single barrel bourbon (55%abv and usually sold as exclusives through specific retailers), and a 6 year old rye (45%abv).

I have mixed feelings about Wild Turkey's products.  While I enjoyed their 101 rye before it was pulled from the shelf (then put back on the shelf) and find Rare Breed to be a reasonable bird, I do not like the current version of their regular 101 bourbon.  I've tried and re-tried it more than I should have and plan on doing an official review of it next year.  With that in mind, I've never gone out and bought a bottle of Russell's.  But Jordan of Chemistry of the Cocktail helpfully supplied me with a good sample.

I tried this Russell's alongside yesterday's unfortunate Maker's Mark and there was really no competition.  Aside from having very different mashbills (rye versus wheat), there was so much more heft and body to one of them...

Owner: Gruppo Campari
Brand: Wild Turkey
Sub-brand: Russell's Reserve
Distillery: Wild Turkey Distillery
Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Mash Bill: around 13% rye (probably)
Age: minimum 10 years old
ABV: 45%
(Thank you to Jordan for the sample!)

NEAT
Its color is dark maple syrup.  The nose shows halvah, rye seeds, and hints of orange peel.  Alternating notes of toasted and charred oak.  More butter and caramel than vanilla.  With 20+ minutes in the glass, there's more barrel char.  An almond torte, too.  And a lot more rye than one expects from the rumored mashbill.  The palate has lots of peppery rye.  Mint, musty oak, tart apples, and black cherry syrup appear in the mid-ground.  Smaller notes of orange candies in the back.  It feels big without being hot, and never gets too sweet.  It finishes with some aromatic woody notes, as well as the familiar caramel and vanilla.  There's are also some orange candies and black peppercorns.

AS A HIGHBALL (1:1 ratio of whisky and club soda)
Big vanilla.  Woody.  Maybe a little creamed corn in there.

This was such a relief to drink after each sip of Maker's Mark.  On its own, it won't WOW anyone, but it's very solid.  The rye element here is my favorite part.  I'm fascinated by how strongly it registers considering how little of it is in the mash.  The balance between the nose, palate, and finish is admirable.  Unlike the Knob Creek Single Barrel (KCSB) I tried, the oak is relatively reigned in.  I recommend it neat, though as a highball it isn't terrible.

In the current (2015) market, its price is reasonable for its age.  It appears to be $5-$10 cheaper than KCSB, but I'd pick this one first any day.  It's a few bucks cheaper than Rare Breed and I think I'd pick the Russell's over that one too, though it's a close call.  But it's nice to know that one can still find decent American whiskey at $30ish, while the prices on the whiskies across the pond continue to expand seemingly beyond control and logic.

Availability - Most specialty retailers

Pricing - $28-$45

Rating - 84

NOT Single Malt Report: Wild Turkey Rare Breed Straight Bourbon Whiskey

The last of this week's bourbons costs as much as the previous two combined, but can still be found for under $40.  (Damn, I wish I could say the same thing about single malts.)  Like the OGD114, it's a bourbon brand owned by (Ye Gods!) an non-American company.  Yep, Wild Turkey is owned by Gruppo Campari, proprietor of Skyy Vodka, Campari(!), Appleton Estate Rum, Irish Mist, Aperol, and the Glen Grant distillery.

Their Rare Breed bourbon is a mix of six-, eight-, and twelve-year-old straight bourbons and bottled at what they call "barrel proof" in small-ish batches.  I have an issue with a piece of their terminology, that "barrel proof" part.  We see a similar descriptor in Scotch whisky: "Cask Strength".  Often times the label "Cask Strength" just means that the whisky was bottled at a higher alcohol proof than normal whisky releases.  How do we know this?  Well, major "cask strength" releases like Glenfarclas 105, Ardbeg Corryvrecken, and Ardbeg Uigeadail are always released at the same exact ABV every year.  That alcohol content consistency sounds pretty darned magical considering the hundreds and thousands of casks they've mixed together over the years to design these products, meanwhile maintaining a similar character throughout.  The same amazing coincidence occurs with Rare Breed.  Wild Turkey makes different batches of Rare Breed each year, but unlike Laphroaig Cask Strength whose ABV varies from batch to batch, WTRB just happens to hit the same exact 54.1% every time.

Look, a lot of companies push the cask strength / barrel strength half-truths on their products.  The only reason why I'm prodding Wild Turkey here is because they actually continue to spin the story on their website, saying Rare Breed "has no added water to lower the proof or dilute the flavor after it’s been distilled."  After it has been distilled.  That is not even remotely unique.  But what they neglect to include is the fact that water is added to reduce the bourbon's ABV once it's out of the barrel and before it is bottled.  Thus the whiskey in the bottle is not at the same proof as it was in the barrels.

I actually like this whiskey, but I find the use of the "barrel proof" designation and the attempt to explain it in a tricky manner to be a little silly.  Okay, enough with all the bitching.  Time for some drinking.

If you squint, you'll see that this a mini (purchased during my last visit to Arizona).  It's shaped similarly to the full-sized bottle, thin at the top, sloping shoulders, and sort of pudgy around the sides.  What the mini does not include is the batch number.  What I was able to glean from the printed code is that the mini was bottled in December 2010.  Here's what a 750mL bottle looks like:

Owner: Gruppo Campari
Brand: Wild Turkey
Distillery: Wild Turkey Distillery
Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Mash Bill: around 13% rye (probably)
Age: a mix of 6, 8, and 12 year old bourbons
ABV: 54.1% ABV
Bottle year: 2010

NEAT
Its color is dark gold.  Pine needles and tree sap are the nose's most prominent notes.  There's an earthiness that mingles well with caramel candy and granulated sugar.  There's also a bit of a black cherry syrup note floating around almonds; some young armangnac too.  Men's cologne and new carpet odors swirl around in the background.  In the palate there's a solid rye bite, milk chocolate, whole wheat bread crust, and cherry Sudafed meets cherry liqueur.  Something like saline and antiseptic show up occasionally.  A corny note and some amaretto bring up the rear.  The cherry flavoring appears again in the finish.  More rye, corn syrup, and Heath Bar.  It's mild and shortish considering its strength and age.  Slightly dry and woody.

WITH WATER
The nose grows more candied.  More vanilla, milk chocolate, and caramel.  Still some pine, and now the saline.  The palate gets woodier and sweeter.  Vanilla and sweet tobacco.  The pine starts to appear here as well.  The finish is sticky sweet.  Lots of corn and wood.

The nose can be a lot of fun and much more challenging than the palate.  It's all more enjoyable when neat, but water doesn't kill it.  The finish is disappointing considering all the character that comes before it.

What I like about Rare Breed is that it establishes itself as more unique in character than most of the bourbons I've tried recently.  Though I have little interest in buying a bottle of my own, I will say that it's more complex than most single malt Scotch at its price range.  But that's more of stab at the price of Scotch than anything else.

While Rare Breed is bolder and more fulfilling than Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon, the question arises: Is the addition of some 12yo whiskey and a 3.6 point boost in ABV worth paying a 100% premium?  That I cannot answer "yes" with full confidence.  If you're interested, what I do recommend is seeking out a 50mL mini as they can be found at many specialty liquor stores.  They're just a few bucks and they'll help you decide if you want to spring for the full thing.

Availability - Most liquor specialty retailers

Pricing - $3-$4 for 50mL; for the current batch: $35-$45 (750mL)

Rating - 83

NOT Single Malt Report: Wild Turkey Rye 101

For the 101st whisk(e)y?

Wild Turkey Rye 101, of course.

Distillery: Wild Turkey (their website has no info on rye)
Ownership: Campari Group (via Austin, Nichols, & Co.)
Type: Straight Rye
Region: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky

Age: minimum 2 years
Mashbill: 65% rye, 23% corn, 12% barley

Maturation: "charred white oak barrels"

Alcohol by Volume: 50.5%

In 1869, the Ripy family started a distillery on Wild Turkey Hill in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.  The distillery blossomed despite grain shortages, the Prohibition shutdown, and the federal enforcement of bourbon standards.  The brand, Wild Turkey itself, had been the product of large batch bourbon purchases from other distilleries.  But in 1972, the Ripy family's distillery was acquired to become The Wild Turkey Distillery.  In 1980 the company was sold to Pernod Ricard.  Then in 2009 Campari purchased the brand.

Now, let me clarify something.  Wild Turkey 101 Rye has NOT entirely vanished.  Reports of its death have been somewhat exaggerated.  It's still out there to be found (at least three local stores have started carrying it again), but it is considerably less prevalent.  As folks have mentioned (here, here, here, and here) there's a rye shortage in the US right now.  If the Lawrenceburg distillery is getting less grain, then they'll stretch it out (water it down) and bottle more of the 81 proof version.  And sell it at the same exact price.  So it goes.

Soonafter getting a few recommendations on for WT101, I read all of the rye shortage news and got caught up in the panic.  Suddenly, no one was selling this rye around here.  When I found a bottle in Palm Springs a few months ago, I thought I'd discovered a great secret whiskey source.  Well, it was a good catch and the price was right, but it was no miracle.

So it's tough to find, but it's still around, especially if you live in or near a major American urban area.

With that out of the way, I have to say, I've never met a rye I didn't like.  Something about straight rye's nose and palate, with its spice cabinet and floral cherry cough syrup highlights, always appeals to me.

There are few $20 bottles of Scotch whisky that can compete with the complexity and spice of a $20 bottle of American rye.  Do we have import tariffs to thank for this?  Or the raw power of the rye distillate?  Probably both.

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NEAT:
The color is of a red-orange molasses.  Always looks nice in a glass.  The nose starts with candied oranges, buttery oak, and barrel char.  Then there's a dry vegetal note that joins up with a whiff of hay.  A dusty cocoa and mild ground black pepper linger in the background.  Cherries in syrup and cherry cough syrup lead the way in the palate.  Pungent fruit sugars and anise liqueur follow.  It's always sweet and spicy, getting sweeter the longer it sits in the glass.  It finishes with the cherry cough syrup, anise liqueur, and juicy sweetness.  Though it's surprisingly brief for its ABV.

It works well in a Sazerac (use real absinthe please!).  It's not bad in a Manhattan.  The dusty cocoa and barrel char elements should work well with some barbecue -- I'll try that this summer.

It stacks up pretty close to the Bulleit and Baby Saz straight ryes.  I won't declare a winner here since I've tried them in completely different circumstances.  I'll just have to drink some more rye, for empirical purposes, of course.

Availability - You'll need to do some Turkey hunting

Pricing - Excellent at $18-$21 (there are folks selling it for $30, shame on them)

Rating - 84