jsrudd Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Has anyone had Wild Turkey Master Keep Decades? It is a blend of 10-20 year old whiskey that was bottled at 54% ABV and is NCF. I've found a couple of reviews, but I wondered if any member of this forum had an opinion. It seems likely that younger barrels were blended with some of the old stock that was previously used for WTMK17 in order to get the proof above 100. I know WTMK Decades been released in Japan and Australia, but I'm not sure if it has been in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 The release was supposed to happen in the US in the fall but got delayed. None of us have tried it yet to my knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAGentleman Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 I just got an email from Wild Turkey saying it is coming out in January Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IncredulousNosco Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 (edited) I'm fairly apprehensive about this. ~$150 for a 10yo whiskey? Seems like a lot, particularly since most reviews like the 17yo Master's Keep better. And I'm in the minority which liked Diamond better than Master's Keep. Here is the short video which claims January 2017. Like VAGentleman said, this link came in an email. Last Friday the 16th actually. And it looks to be 52%, not 54%. Edited December 19, 2016 by IncredulousNosco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 (edited) I can confirm that it was at the Sydney Duty Free as of about 16 hours ago. I passed on it and everything else due to not really being interested in what was available. Edited December 19, 2016 by garbanzobean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 I would like to try it, having been one of the people who really liked the WTMK, but l am not sure I want to spend $150 or more on it, especially given the WTMK cost that or less as I recall. OK, I am quite sure I don't want to spend $150 on it. Whether I will or not is another story! It is a very attractive bottle. But that is hardly worth $150 and I already have the WTMK which looks pretty much the same. Any chance it will now cost even more in the wake of the Booker's "premiumization"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvd99 Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 WT has been hit or miss on these limited releases lately. I'll hold off on this one for now and hope there's positive feedback before considering an investment in a bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 (edited) 4 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said: I would like to try it, having been one of the people who really liked the WTMK, but l am not sure I want to spend $150 or more on it, especially given the WTMK cost that or less as I recall. OK, I am quite sure I don't want to spend $150 on it. Whether I will or not is another story! It is a very attractive bottle. But that is hardly worth $150 and I already have the WTMK which looks pretty much the same. Any chance it will now cost even more in the wake of the Booker's "premiumization"... If I recall correctly, they were selling WTMK for $180AUD and Decades for $150AUD. Edit: Keep in mind that I have been traveling for more than 24 hours straight, so the likelihood of me getting those numbers wrong is pretty high. Edited December 19, 2016 by garbanzobean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 1 minute ago, garbanzobean said: If I recall correctly, they were selling WTMK for $180AUD and Decades for $150AUD Ah well. Perhaps the next release! I wonder if this bottling uses the whiskey from the first year of the higher barrel proof WT has been using. As I recall when the GBS did a barrel pick of RR we had options from 2005 and 2006 barrels which was before and after the new higher barrel proof (what the change in proof was I have since forgotten). But the 2005 was pretty consistently better than the 2006 as I recall. This Decades bottling presumably could have been using 2006 distillate depending on when it was bottled. That would likely help get the bottling proof up from the older whiskey such as what was in the WTMK which was generally pretty low proof from the barrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I just remembered that I have indeed tried this. They brought it out as a bonus pour at the event I did with WT at the KBA. MK was also poured. I wasn't able to do a side by side with MK and we had just had lunch so it wasn't the best scenario to really get a good feel for it as my palate was far from fresh. I recall liking it a bit better than MK, and I do like MK. So, for whatever that's worth to anyone, I thought it was good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsrudd Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 3 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said: Ah well. Perhaps the next release! I wonder if this bottling uses the whiskey from the first year of the higher barrel proof WT has been using. As I recall when the GBS did a barrel pick of RR we had options from 2005 and 2006 barrels which was before and after the new higher barrel proof (what the change in proof was I have since forgotten). But the 2005 was pretty consistently better than the 2006 as I recall. This Decades bottling presumably could have been using 2006 distillate depending on when it was bottled. That would likely help get the bottling proof up from the older whiskey such as what was in the WTMK which was generally pretty low proof from the barrel. The increase in barrel entry proof was from 110 to 115. This was something that I hadn't considered. I guess it depends how much 10-year-old bourbon is in the batch. Anything 11 years or older, however, would be from the previous barrel entry proofs of either 110 or 107 (WTMK17 entered the barrel at 107). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsrudd Posted December 20, 2016 Author Share Posted December 20, 2016 Well, I couldn't help myself. I went ahead and bought the WTMK Decades. I'm leaving to go back to the US for Christmas in a few days, but I plan to open it when I get back to Tokyo. The packaging is very nice. This is the first whiskey I've purchased with nice packaging. It makes it seem like it's worth the money (even though it's only what's in the bottle that counts). Other distillers could take a page out of WT's book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 (edited) So I am guessing you don't have the WTMK to compare it to? Packaging is similar. Proof on this is a good bit higher but in the case of WTMK I am not sure that matters as much since it is reputed to be barrel proof, more or less. Might still find a bottle on the shelf if interested depending on where you are, presuming you are interested of course. Wasn't quite the dude the WT Diamond or the KC2001 has been but wasn't necessarily a big mover either. Edited December 20, 2016 by tanstaafl2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvd99 Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I'm not a fan of packaging, but the MK bottle is really nice looking. So is the decades out now in the US? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 I'd be happy without all the packaging if it brought the price point down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 44 minutes ago, jvd99 said: I'm not a fan of packaging, but the MK bottle is really nice looking. So is the decades out now in the US? Reportedly delayed until early next year according to a post near the top of the thread but apparently already on the shelves in Japan and Australia. On 12/19/2016 at 6:25 AM, VAGentleman said: I just got an email from Wild Turkey saying it is coming out in January Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCWoody Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 As soon as I see one Ill pick it up and see if it's as good as MK. I have a filling its going to be very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsrudd Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 12 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said: So I am guessing you don't have the WTMK to compare it to? Packaging is similar. Proof on this is a good bit higher but in the case of WTMK I am not sure that matters as much since it is reputed to be barrel proof, more or less. Might still find a bottle on the shelf if interested depending on where you are, presuming you are interested of course. Wasn't quite the dude the WT Diamond or the KC2001 has been but wasn't necessarily a big mover either. I don't have a WTMK17 to compare. The price of WTMK17 was very high in Japan. I normally saw it at around $180-190. There are still plenty on the shelf at that price, though I've been seeing the price come down a little recently. WTMK Decades, however, was released was the same price as the US. 8 hours ago, jvd99 said: I'm not a fan of packaging, but the MK bottle is really nice looking. So is the decades out now in the US? I'm in Japan, not the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namadio Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 I've got an old American Spirit, Diamond, and MK sitting around. Tasted all 3. American Spirit is in a whole nother realm but as far as the newer releases I liked the diamond. I thought it was complex akin to a 4 roses ltd small batch although lacking in some other areas. Not saying the other aspects were near the 4R... Guess I'll have to buy a decades and see how it compares. I don't remember liking the MK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IncredulousNosco Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 I'm right there with you namadio. Diamond > MK. Not too many reviewers shared our opinion. Decades basically sounds like a MK/RareBreed blend. Since RB is my favorite WT, it may improve MK dramatically. Still a lot of $$ for a 10yo bourbon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsrudd Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 I opened the WTMK Decades last night. It reminded me a lot of export WT12, especially the nose. Overall, it was very sweet, but it had some nice oak to balance it out. There were also some slight herbal notes that you find better represented in dusty WT. The mouth feel was very thick and creamy. The finish was very nice. While this is a blend of 10-20 year old barrels, it seemed like there was a decent amount of pretty old bourbon in the mix. While it could only carry a 10 year age statement if so labeled, I don't think it's fair to characterize this as a 10 year old bourbon. After all, PHC Golden Anniversary would also be labeled as a 10 year if it carried an age statement. My main criticism of this bourbon is that the extreme sweetness crowds out the other flavors making the palate a little one dimensional. Maybe this will change with a little air. I haven't had the recent WT LEs, so I cannot compare this to those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAGentleman Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 I was able to get one of these over the weekend, so it is indeed in the US now. I did a SBS with the first MK. The decades is a little darker than the original. The nose has more oak and vanilla to it than the original. On the taste, it is more oak forward but nicely balanced with rye spice slowly going towards vanilla and some WT funk (in a good way). This is a very nice whiskey. The original was a little more rye spice forward than this which is more oak. A very nice thick mouthfeel. At 104 proof this also has a nicer burn for me than the lower proof original. So far, I like this one a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvd99 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 4 hours ago, VAGentleman said: I was able to get one of these over the weekend, so it is indeed in the US now. What's the price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAGentleman Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 $149.99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvd99 Posted February 17, 2017 Share Posted February 17, 2017 Decades had now been widely released and is available, at least around me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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