New Wild Turkey Product Fall 2013 - Forgiven

[wadewood]

Jimmy Russell visited Houston tonight and dropped they will have a new product out this Fall - WT Forgiven. The story is they accidently mixed some WT Bourbon with some WT Rye during production, but liked the result. They were not for sure if it would be 1 time thing or ongoing.

Actually, they announced a 2nd product as well, which I moaned a slight 'boo' - a spiced WT along lines of Captains Morgan rum but using bourbon as base.

Also, the new barrel proof Russell's Reserve is now in Texas.

[Barrel_Proof]

You're forgiven.

And thanks for the news.

[squire]

Did Mr. Russell indicate how many cases of this accidental mixture will reach the market?

[WAINWRIGHT]

I assume the Forgiven will be a 101 proof product?

[Josh]

Well, you gotta give Campari points for trying things they haven't tried before, I guess. Thanks for the information Wade!

[clingman71]

I wish they would "accidentally" botttle some WT8 or WT12 for the U.S.!

[DrinkSpirits]

I hate to say this, but I fear both releases are marketing driven. Hope they are good.

[squire]

Certainly it's market driven, that's the smart move, and I wish them success. I won't be buying the flavored stuff but the Bourbon/Rye hybrid is interesting. I do wonder though how they managed to dump both Rye and Bourbon barrels without noticing what they were doing, I mean, aren't those things labeled?

[portwood]

Dumb question from a newb alert.

Straight Bourbon is made up of at least 51% corn - remainder is rye/wheat/barley

Straight Rye is made up of at least 51% rye - remainder is corn/barley

Therefore, isn't a "hybrid" (mixture) of the two still a straight bourbon or straight rye (depending on the percentages used)?

Edit: sorry, just did the math - it's possible to end up with a mixture that isn't at least 51% of either corn or rye.

Edited May 23, 2013 by portwood

[squire]

Technically yes, the resulting blend is still made up of straight whiskys but to label it as a straight it would have to be named either Bourbon or Rye, depending on which grain has the highest percentage (over 51%) in the mix which sorta defeats the purpose of creating something different in the first place.

I think that in the future we will see more emphasis on the brand name and the word whisky with the term straight falling by the wayside.

[sku]

Dumb question from a newb alert.

Straight Bourbon is made up of at least 51% corn - remainder is rye/wheat/barley

Straight Rye is made up of at least 51% rye - remainder is corn/barley

Therefore, isn't a "hybrid" (mixture) of the two still a straight bourbon or straight rye (depending on the percentages used)?

Edit: sorry, just did the math - it's possible to end up with a mixture that isn't at least 51% of either corn or rye.

[wadewood]

Jimmy also said they now make Rye 10 days of the year, compared to years past when it was 2 days.

[smokinjoe]

I hate to say this, but I fear both releases are marketing driven. Hope they are good.

You sound surprised/discouraged that this release may be driven by marketing. Aren't they all? In every business?

[squire]

sku let me pose this; if you vat a Straight Rye with a 51% rye content and a Straight Bourbon with a 72% corn content ( both distilled in the same State and otherwise meeting straight standards) the resulting mix will have more than 51% corn, so doesn't that qualify as a Straight Bourbon?

[squire]

Or would we fall back on the "distilled from" clause to say once a Rye always a Rye and once a Bourbon always a Bourbon unless their identity is changed by mixing them together.

[Josh]

I'm not Sku, but no, it's still a blend of straight whiskeys.

[squire]

Well then I'll go back to my musing while you fellas go back to work.

[Josh]

I don't know if it's marketing driven but it's definitely profit driven. They are trying to make money after all.

[GaryT]

Jimmy also said they now make Rye 10 days of the year, compared to years past when it was 2 days.

That's great news! Maybe the return of 101 rye before too long :-)

[Tony]

I will give the Forgiven a try. Sounds interesting.

Best regards, Tony

[Yeti]

I hope that was just a tongue-in-cheek anecdote during a "private" moment, and not the actual marketing story that we'll get. Ever since the Ardbeg Serendipity I've been unreasonably aggravated by these stories of "accidental" vattings. These particular distilleries are major industrial sites with rigid safety protocols. Someone would get fired, not a pat on the back at the new product unveiling. Why not just say "Well, Jimmy decided to mix a little WT rye and bourbon together one night and thought it was some tasty stuff. So now we want to make that available to all of you!"

[sku]

sku let me pose this; if you vat a Straight Rye with a 51% rye content and a Straight Bourbon with a 72% corn content ( both distilled in the same State and otherwise meeting straight standards) the resulting mix will have more than 51% corn, so doesn't that qualify as a Straight Bourbon?

I concur with Josh that this would be a blend of straight whiskeys. The mashbill isn't the issue. Once you add a whiskey of another type to either rye or bourbon, they cease to be rye or bourbon and become another classification of whiskey. In this case, it would be a blend of straight whiskeys.

[BigRich]

You sound surprised/discouraged that this release may be driven by marketing. Aren't they all? In every business?

[jburlowski]

^{Sounds interesting. But I don't buy for a moment the "accidental" story.}

[smokinjoe]

^{Sounds interesting. But I don't buy for a moment the "accidental" story.}

There is well documented video evidence of these types of things happening. For instance...

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=reese's+peanut+butter+cup+commercials+70s&mid=CFBF25E2F3FB2C0B0BF8CFBF25E2F3FB2C0B0BF8&view=detail&FORM=VIRE1