What Do You Think Of Wild Turkey Today?

[cowdery]

This is a new thread but it's based on this post by Flintlock.

Since Turkey has just cranked up a new distillery, this might be a good time to assess the state of Turkey today. Recently another member here generously shared with me some WT 101 bottled about 20 years ago. It is superb, simply some of the best bourbon ever made. The WT 101 of today can't hold a candle too it.

I don't sense that the best stuff is going overseas, as Flintlock suggests. What I think has happened is that the equivalent of what was bottled as standard 101 in 1993 now gets held for Russell's Reserve, Rare Breed, Kentucky Spirit, and up from there. To get Turkey's best today, you have to at least go with Russell's Reserve, which is about $30 here, and is age-stated at ten years, but is only 40% ABV.

To get the good stuff at the full 50.5% ABV you have to go to the $50 Kentucky Spirit, which remains one of the finest bourbons on that market. It's not age-stated. If you want age-stated, at 14 years, at 101 proof you have to go with WT Tradition, at $100.

While we'd all like to get the best for less, I can't fault what Wild Turkey has done. Their best is still great and still available, you just have to pay more to get it.

But that's just what I think. I started this thread to find out what you think. If you think of it, indicate in your post how long you've been drinking Wild Turkey.

[OscarV]

I generally agree with Flintlock's rant, his word not mine, in the other thread.
Also Russell's Reserve 45% ABV.

[DeanSheen]

The old stuff was great. The new stuff not so much.

I think it's sad. I buy Rare Breed once in awhile but that's it.

[SMOWK]

I recently picked up 5 WT101 Old #8's from 1998 and even those are significantly better than the WT101 of today. The current stuff is still good, but given another 10 years, we'll see....

[jcg9779]

I haven't had old WT before, but I do like KS and RB, with RB being my favorite WT product that I've tried. I'm not a huge fan of the 101. I'll have to look for some older 101 to try!

[ebo]

Being a fairly recent convert to Bourbon (4 years), I've never had older Turkey. I have tasted WTKS and I think it is very good stuff. Rare Breed is pretty good, also. I think the 101 is very good for the price. I always have it on hand and drink quite a bit of it. The RR is good, no doubt, but the lack of proof doesn't make it worth the price to me. I hope to taste some older Turkey some day, but untill then, all I have to go on is what I've tasted... and I like WT 101.

[MJL]

Chuck,
My taste memory is not that good when we are talking decades. I think the fairest way to determine this is to have a side by side tasting. I have about 10 gallons of Wild Turkey 101 in storage (hurricane supply, end of the world stash, etc) that dates to about 2001 to 2009. I perceive no qualitative change so this makes me ask a question. At what point do you think this change over occured?

[Special Reserve]

Through the 80's and into the mid 90's WT101 was the go to drink for me.

This thread is helping me remember why.

WT101 from back then was a fabulous drink.

Inexplicably after that I drank vodka for awhile. Perhaps it was less expensive. Fortunately that habit didn't last too long.

Addition:

What do I think of WT101 today. I have a bottle on my shelf. It's ok but I'd go for spending about $5 more and getting a OWA 107 actually I really like the NAS bottling.

I think Chuck's assessment is spot on.

[Ian S.]

I always feel one of 2 ways when I see threads like this one or hear people talk about stuff like this....

1. It seems like "older" is always "better". Being relatively young and new to bourbon, I haven't been able to sample much of the older releases of anything.

2. Simply jealous of the fact that I seem to have missed out on some of the best bourbon ever made simply because of my age.

Has the quality of bourbon gone down over the decades?

[StraightNoChaser]

What I'm curious to know is if the new distilling facilities will at all impact the quality of WT bottlings across the board. I figure we won't know for quite a while until some of that juice starts getting bottled in the upcoming years