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New Wild Turkey Master's Keep, bottled at 86.8 proof


Josh
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Thanks for pointing me to The Malt Maniacs site, I enjoyed the 'home chill-filtered' results particularly. The article cited above was not of much value, however. Anthropomorphic references to molecular interaction are less than illuminating and entirely inaccurate. Shaking your bottle before pouring will have a much greater effect on 'brightness' than adding a few drops of water to your dram in the glass. You do not need to dilute to 'wake up' your whiskey. Who would like to report on the 'shaken vs. unshaken' bottle test? It can be called 'Shaken-bottle Syndrome'!;)

Edited by MauiSon
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I've argued the above on other forums. It's always a few magic drops that make everything wonderful - as though all the water added to downproof the original barrel were somehow non-magical and the release proof point always a few drops too high above ideal.

Water is water, as far as I'm concerned.

As I understand it, when one adds a drop or two of water to high proof whiskey in the glass, it opens up aromas and flavors because surface tensions are broken, the whiskey is agitated, or something. But water added in bottling doesn't have the same effect, because the finished product has had time to "settle" and would need to be reopened again, should that be one's thing.

Caveat: I love barrel strength whiskey as is, and can probably count on one hand the number of times I've tried sullying it with a drop or two of water.

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Broken surface tension?

:fish2::fish2::fish2:

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After reading the linked article, which was indeed interesting, I am thinking that what may be the dominant effect occurring from the addition of water to the whiskey is the warming effect. Bringing it up a few degrees from the molecular agitation would certainly make sense in terms of throwing off more fragrance, etc.

I remember talking to a rum-loving store owner in Florida who said he used to put his pours of rum in the microwave for 2 seconds. I never tried it, but it sounded plausible.

It seems to be more of a nose issue than a taste one.

That was a good link. I learned something.

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Like several others here, I'm thanking you for the link. sku has his blogofthemonth, and some other blogs are pretty good at linking to great sites. This certainly is one worth visiting from time to time.

Edit: While the "thanks" has nothing to do with, WTMK 86.8, it fits for me if only because I tend to add a drop or two of water or an ice chip to anything over TW101's threshold. Now, I know why, sort of.

Edited by Harry in WashDC
germaneness added
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  • 1 month later...

When picking a barrel for at WT over Sampler weekend, I heard that the barrels used for this thing came in at weirdly low proofs, in the mid 90s. That makes the 86.8 proof slightly less irritating but they were still high enough to put this out at 91 proof.

So I'm less irate about this than I was when I posted the thread.

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When picking a barrel for at WT over Sampler weekend, I heard that the barrels used for this thing came in at weirdly low proofs, in the mid 90s. That makes the 86.8 proof slightly less irritating but they were still high enough to put this out at 91 proof.

So I'm less irate about this than I was when I posted the thread.

Yet they have other 17-year-old barrels that are high enough proof to put out a 102.6 proof Russell's Reserve at the same time. Maybe that's why the RR version is less than 2,000 bottles?

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I heard the same as Josh regarding the low proof phenomena (<50 Abv) that has caused WT to alter their plans on more than one release. The info came from what I would call a reliable source.

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I heard the same as Josh regarding the low proof phenomena (<50 Abv) that has caused WT to alter their plans on more than one release. The info came from what I would call a reliable source.

So you're saying you believe Eddie? Horse's mouth and all that I guess. ;)

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So you're saying you believe Eddie? Horse's mouth and all that I guess. ;)

I was just thinking "You mean, you heard from the self-described 'new guy' over there" :lol:

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So you're saying you believe Eddie? Horse's mouth and all that I guess. ;)

I know! Crazy isn't it?!?! :lol:

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On PA's website, there is currently 1000s, 1000s!, of Diamond in inventory. No one is buying it.

This shit will languish on the shelf.

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Wild Turkeys Limited edition usually hang around for quite a while.

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One of my all time favorite Bourbons (EWSB) is 86.6 proof (granted it's only $20 to $24) and let's not forget Eagle rare 17-year-old is only 90 proof (not that far off) and it's a $90 bottle. Hopefully we can see the price point soon before we judge it too harshly.

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One of my all time favorite Bourbons (EWSB) is 86.6 proof (granted it's only $20 to $24) and let's not forget Eagle rare 17-year-old is only 90 proof (not that far off) and it's a $90 bottle. Hopefully we can see the price point soon before we judge it too harshly.
This is a great point. While I'm almost certainly going to give this release a pass regardless of price point due to the age not being within my preferred range, it is important to note that excellent whiskey does not always have to be a booze bomb. Sure, it'd be nice to have a much healthier selection of readily available barrel proof monsters than we currently do, but I would hate to see ALL the lower proof stuff go away. My light drinkers disappear a lot faster than my barrel proofers, and that is not just because I pour smaller amounts of the barrel proof stuff.
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I sat on the sidelines with DA until I got a great deal with a sale. I like it. I'll probably do the same with this one - wait for it to languish and be offered at a discount. I'm skeptical about the proof, but the age is intriguing.

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Not sure how reliable this info from twitter is, but the claim is that MSRP for Master's Keep will be around $150:

https://twitter.com/amshep/status/596429477804015616

Not surprising, but it's a pass for me at that price.

Blake over at bourbonr speculated the same thing a few months ago: http://bourbonr.com/blog/wild-turkey-release-17-yo-bourbon/

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At that price, it can collect dust on the shelf with all the Diamond Anniversary.

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At that price, it can collect dust on the shelf with all the Diamond Anniversary.

They just shipped a lot of the Diamond Anniversary to Japan, presumably to try and get rid of some inventory. Almost every liquor store I go into now has a couple of bottles on the shelf, but the price is still $150 per bottle. They seem destined to collect dust here as well.

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They just shipped a lot of the Diamond Anniversary to Japan, presumably to try and get rid of some inventory. Almost every liquor store I go into now has a couple of bottles on the shelf, but the price is still $150 per bottle. They seem destined to collect dust here as well.

Same with the Lock, Stock, and Barrel rye. I figured by now the stores would be accepting reality and putting them on special, but nope, nope, nope. Still holding strong at 120+. I really don't see any other path for them but to sell 'em for about 80 eventually.

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Same with the Lock, Stock, and Barrel rye. I figured by now the stores would be accepting reality and putting them on special, but nope, nope, nope. Still holding strong at 120+. I really don't see any other path for them but to sell 'em for about 80 eventually.

I have been wondering about that one too. It has certainly languished on the shelf here it would seem. Makes me wonder if the decision, if true, to return the Hochstadter Rock and Rye to its original 98 proof has anything to do with this. At least some of the rye used in this is from the same source as LS&B albeit a good bit younger of course.

A shame as it is in a nice bottle. But when compared to Whistlepig it seems to be lacking just a bit. I would much rather by the LS&B than Whistlepig based in part on the phony marketing of the piggy and a slightly lower price, say sub $100, might tip the scale a good bit for me.

Edited by tanstaafl2
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