New Wild Turkey Product Fall 2013 - Forgiven

[MyOldKyDram]

Yet it's going to retail for an A+ price.

[Trey Manthey]

Great, a C bourbon mixed with an F rye. That comes out to a D. Can't wait.

[sutton]

Yet it's going to retail for an A+ price.

Looks like btw. $45-$50 in the couple of spots you can find it advertised online. If this was truly an accident, this might be an interesting one-off. If we start to see Batch #2 ... Batch #n, I'd say more likely a good story, or that they could never really replicate the first "accident", if it was "very rare, high proof Rye" - if there is enough of that stuff lying around to keep this as a new product line, subsequent batches should be as good and you'd have to wonder why the 101 Rye went away in the first place.

OR ... this is exactly why the 101 Rye went away.

Edited August 7, 2013 by sutton

[Gillman]

Something that was done in the earlier years by the American whiskey industry and anyone here can do (as I have for years) by mixing it themselves. A conservative industry is awakening to its own traditions and simple logic albeit this was said to result from a mingling error. WT is already a high rye bourbon so this would produce an even higher-rye, bourbon-type whiskey. Well done WT and hopefully more of this will be seen in the industry: it creates new products right away and the possibilities are endless. Not so enamored of the spiced thing but hey, put it into the mix.

Gary

[Gillman]

My suggestion for those so inclined is to try a 50-50 mingling, and then a 2:1 and 3:1, bourbon to the rye. See which is best.

Gary

[MyOldKyDram]

Hopefully less will be done IMO. Not sure how anyone applauds this move. But to each their own.

[smokinghole]

Does anyone know when the accident wa supposed to have happened? I mean what part of the process exactly. They may have had dumped barrels in a mixing or holding tank and as they were dumping the others someone opened the wrong tank valve. I don't know if they have manual tank valves but they likely have series of tanks with a filling/filtering line attached to the bottom of all the tanks in a chain. So if the filter operator flipped the wrong valve and didn't know i could see this happening. Of course they'd have to have manual valves or even manually controlled pneumatic valves. Well it could have been an operator error on a control panel also. I doubt it truly happened but its entirely possible. I cant imagine they operate filtering and filling much different than the brewing industry, except brewing does everything possible to avoid oxygen.

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[Josh]

I'm not so sure they used stock 81 rye. Now this might be marketing drivel, but heed what the story on the tube says:

"When our Distillery's crew unwittingly mingled a very rare, high proof Rye with perfectly aged Bourbon..."

I don't think the 81 rye could be considered either rare or high proof, so they might be working with something else for this vatting.

True, but I don't think the 101 could be considered perfectly aged bourbon either.

[Trey Manthey]

Here's how I heard it happened. See there are these rails that they use to move the barrels around, kinda like a rollercoaster winding through the mixing room. They had a barrel of very rare, high proof Rye waiting to be dumped, and several barrels of run of the mill 101 bourbon that were queued up for dumping. Well, the guy that was supposed to roll the rye barrel forward slipped on a banana peel, sending the rye barrel flying backwards on the rails. It smashed into a waiting bourbon barrel, splintering both barrels. This happened right over an empty mixing tank which Jimmy Russell happened to be standing in at the time because he dropped his cell phone. Jimmy was instantly drenched in whiskey, and his cell phone was ruined. Fuming mad, he started thrashing around in the tank, but suddenly he stopped. His eyes widened as he licked his lips cautiously. He tipped his head back, outstretched his arms, spinning and laughing under the mingling shower of bourbon and rye like Tim Robbins being cleansed from the filth of Shawshank Prison. He fell back into the tank and just floated, as the other workers ran to help him. As they peered over the edge of the tank, a single word fell from his lips, like the whisper of a summer breeze through a Kentucky hollow, "Forgiven."

[drunk]

Here's how I heard it happened. See there are these rails that they use to move the barrels around, kinda like a rollercoaster winding through the mixing room. They had a barrel of very rare, high proof Rye waiting to be dumped, and several barrels of run of the mill 101 bourbon that were queued up for dumping. Well, the guy that was supposed to roll the rye barrel forward slipped on a banana peel, sending the rye barrel flying backwards on the rails. It smashed into a waiting bourbon barrel, splintering both barrels. This happened right over an empty mixing tank which Jimmy Russell happened to be standing in at the time because he dropped his cell phone. Jimmy was instantly drenched in whiskey, and his cell phone was ruined. Fuming mad, he started thrashing around in the tank, but suddenly he stopped. His eyes widened as he licked his lips cautiously. He tipped his head back, outstretched his arms, spinning and laughing under the mingling shower of bourbon and rye like Tim Robbins being cleansed from the filth of Shawshank Prison. He fell back into the tank and just floated, as the other workers ran to help him. As they peered over the edge of the tank, a single word fell from his lips, like the whisper of a summer breeze through a Kentucky hollow, "Forgiven."

Well done sir, that was brilliant. I wish the Three Stooges would have done something similar to the "Three Little Beers" short, but set in a warehouse.

[RVTsteve]

Think you nailed it, Trey.

It's a pretty big mistake if they have enough to distribute. Or maybe the mistake led to them bottling more of this magical concoction that no one has ever thought of before.

I can hear the marketing department "Just put a new name on it and double the price, they'll buy anything"

That said, I'm always a little excited to see a new product from an established distillery hit the shelves.

[sutton]

Think you nailed it, Trey.

It's a pretty big mistake if they have enough to distribute. Or maybe the mistake led to them bottling more of this magical concoction that no one has ever thought of before.

I can hear the marketing department "Just put a new name on it and double the price, they'll buy anything"

That said, I'm always a little excited to see a new product from an established distillery hit the shelves.

You make a good point; this could have been an honest mistake that made them say, "Hey, this could actually be a nice product" - selling it off for industrial alcohol would be a waste. If it truly was an aged high proof rye, how many of these aged rye barrels do they have to combine with the "well-aged" bourbon and make it a general release? The reason stated for letting 101 Rye go off market temporarily and bottle the 81 Rye, was a lack of rye stock to do both.

If the story is real and this is a true one-off, this is going to fly off the shelves - if it's popular, maybe they'll do a yearly release ala BTAC - that would be very interesting. I'm a fan of WT; just not a fan of the tendency in bourbon marketing toward "stories" and NDP phantom distilleries. Independent bottlers for Scotch disclose just about everything and it doesn't seem to harm their ability to move the product or harm the distilleries' brand reputation - in fact, if independents build a reputation as great barrel selectors and value-add through additional aging or finishing, you seek out their bottlings. I see no reason why this same model couldn't be followed with bourbon/rye, unless the distilleries believe that it is confusing to the buyers of their primary brands.

[WAINWRIGHT]

I'm highly skeptical of this $50 product as a gimmick it may take some serious convincing for me to purchase one,it may be great but I have my doubts and only see the further downward spiral of the once beloved Turkey on the horizon.Unique marketing can't sell everything and lets face facts it's all been done before.

[MauiSon]

Yeah, if sold for less than usual price, it's a mistake; if sold for more, it's marketing bedazzle.

Edited August 8, 2013 by MauiSon

[squire]

Someone will buy it, someone always does.

[mbroo5880i]

Someone will buy it, someone always does.

Yeah, regardless of fact, it is a marketable product. The price may be irrelevant to success in this market. To paraphrase "Field of Dreams," blend it and they will come.

[squire]

Back on me though if the stuff turns out to actually be good.

[fishnbowljoe]

FORGIVE me, but I think I'll pass on this one.

[Bourbon Boiler]

I was really looking forward to this, as I love a high rye bourbon but don't find many straight ryes that I enjoy. However, this thread pointed out the obvious - I can mingle them myself. I think I'll do it right now.

[MyOldKyDram]

I'll probably just by another Bourye instead.

[Bourbon Boiler]

My Forgiveness:

2 parts WT101 : 1 part 6 yr Russell's Reserve Rye

nose: can't distinguish it from WT101.

mouthfeel: I hate to make comparisions without trying both together, but I'd swear this is a noticably heavier and a more oily mouthfeel than either bottle individually

taste: a little hot, but sterotypical WT with a good pepper flavor. The 101 is a little too dominant, if I try this again, I might try 50/50.

finish: Right after swallowing, there is a very brief flavor of smoke and molasses, but it's too brief and is followed by a slight alcohol burn.

Note: after adding seven drops of water to about 1 ounce of the remainder, the molasses flavor really opened up in my mind. I was also able to catch a little more of the pine and mint notes that I typically find in the rye as the molasses faded.

I'd imagine that the real Forgiven is heavier in the 101 than my version, but assuming my concoction is a reasonable sample, it's hard to justify $50 for a bottle. That said, I have disappointed myslef in the past by spending more on worse.

[squire]

Let's see, for $50 I can get a bottle of Ritt, one of Barton and, hmm, actually I can get several bottles of mixing whisky.

[squire]

Maybe I could even score one of those Collins Creek I've heard such good things about.

[Trey Manthey]

This just in! Squire can get several bottles of something for what others are paying for something else.

[squire]

Oh not just me Trey, anyone can.