Tell Me About Wild Turkey

[CardsandBourbon]

I posted earlier that WT 101 is a no go for me.  But, surprisingly, I like WTKS, WTRB & the Russell's line.  Don't know what it is but they taste totally different for me.

[flahute]

1 hour ago, PaulO said:

I've become a big WT fan over the last couple years.  The current WT 101 is very tasty, and drinks well below its' proof.  In the past, I did get some of the not so good batch others have mentioned, around 2012.  It was in the Austin Nichols labeled bottle, so no danger confusing it with current good stuff.

I've always been a fan of Rare Breed - any version.

I bought one bottle of Kentucky Spirit.  I liked it; slightly different profile from standard WT, but good.  If you want one of those sunburst shaped bottles, better get it soon.  New package is a plain bottle.

I got to meet Mr. Russell at a liquor store tasting.  There I sampled Master's Keep 17, and Decades.  They were both good, but honestly, I don't think I'm going to pay $150 for a bottle of anything.

I'm thinking about trying the RR SB.  People like Mako and Steve, what do you think about the bottles that come without special provenance, like from a grocery store?

In my experience they’ve all been good.

[Seasick Sailor]

Has anyone done a side-by-side with summer/fall 2018 101 and early-2018/2017 101? Rare Bird wrote an article about how, because of the roll out of Longbranch, there was less 8 year old bourbon for 101 so the 2018 version contains more 10 year old bourbon than normal. 

 

If you haven't read the article, here it is: https://rarebird101.com/2019/01/15/wild-turkey-101-2018/

 

If you're looking to find this version of 101, look for bottle codes that start with GG, GH, or GI.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Seasick Sailor

[Kane]

I had RR SB picked by people that I'm 101% positive have no clue how to distinguish between a bourbon vs. scotch vs. vodka... They were all good. I suppose the juice really is foolproof.

 

Now that I think about it, I actually haven't seen any (new label) RR SB without the store pick neck tag. Do they exist?

[Seasick Sailor]

7 minutes ago, Kane said:

Now that I think about it, I actually haven't seen any (new label) RR SB without the store pick neck tag. Do they exist?

Granted I live in a smaller town with basically two decent liquor stores and a ton of bad ones, but I have not found any RRSBs with or without store pick tags. 

[BMartin42]

I had RR SB picked by people that I'm 101% positive have no clue how to distinguish between a bourbon vs. scotch vs. vodka... They were all good. I suppose the juice really is foolproof.
 
Now that I think about it, I actually haven't seen any (new label) RR SB without the store pick neck tag. Do they exist?

I’ve never actually seen a store pick of RRSB. Just bought a non store pick bottle Friday.

[BourbonBuzz]

I went about this backwards. I started with RR PS, then got the RR10. I liked both of those so much, and like high proof, that I got the Rare Breed and really liked it. Decided to try the 101 and still enjoyed it. I bought a 750 and 4 airline bottles for my frequent travel. Like a little lower proof for the plane...don't want to rile the flight attendants. 

[ebo]

Like someone else already said... WT 101 and Old Grand Dad Bonded are always in my house. I'm a big fan of anything WT.

[kaiserhog]

WT 101, OGD Bonded, and EWBIB are my staples.  Usually keep some Rare Breed as well.  Now 5 years ago it was FRYL and GD12 so things can change.

[kevinbrink]

On ‎1‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 7:31 PM, Seasick Sailor said:

Has anyone tried the Master's Keep Decades? The state store near me has a bottle right at MSRP that is calling my name. Reviews seem positive.

 

I think they have a bottle of Revival too, but I am a little hesitant due to the Sherry-barrel finish. 

I have enjoyed all three of the Master's Keep Releases, Decades is just a fantastic bourbon, I didn't find the Sherry finish on Revival to be too overdone but I'm generally a fan of Sherry and consume a fair share of Sherry finished whiskies albeit predominantly Scotch. 

[Seasick Sailor]

I was checking out the Breaking Bourbon release calendar this morning and something caught my eye. Under the Expected in 2019 section, it lists Wild Turkey 101 Year Celebration. It looks like it will be a special release to commemorate Jimmy and Eddie Russell's combined 101 years in the industry. Has anyone heard anything about this release? It sounds like it was mentioned on the Bourbon Pursuit podcast. I'll have to track down the episode and give it a listen. 

Edited January 22, 2019 by Seasick Sailor

[kevinbrink]

1 hour ago, Seasick Sailor said:

I was checking out the Breaking Bourbon release calendar this morning and something caught my eye. Under the Expected in 2019 section, it lists Wild Turkey 101 Year Celebration. It looks like it will be a special release to commemorate Jimmy and Eddie Russell's combined 101 years in the industry. Has anyone heard anything about this release? It sounds like it was mentioned on the Bourbon Pursuit podcast. I'll have to track down the episode and give it a listen. 

I think last year was actually Jimmy and Eddie's combined 101, Rarebird101 seemed to believe that as well if you read his blog post about the store pick he did. 

https://rarebird101.com/2018/11/18/one-a-century/

[rjg1701]

On 1/21/2019 at 8:28 AM, Seasick Sailor said:

Has anyone done a side-by-side with summer/fall 2018 101 and early-2018/2017 101? Rare Bird wrote an article about how, because of the roll out of Longbranch, there was less 8 year old bourbon for 101 so the 2018 version contains more 10 year old bourbon than normal. 

 

If you haven't read the article, here it is: https://rarebird101.com/2019/01/15/wild-turkey-101-2018/

 

If you're looking to find this version of 101, look for bottle codes that start with GG, GH, or GI.

It may have been confirmation bias, but the 2018 (Date code LL/G) had a depth of flavor completely missing from the older bottle.  I have bunkered several in case they are unable to keep such well aged stocks in the mix.

[Seasick Sailor]

1 hour ago, rjg1701 said:

It may have been confirmation bias, but the 2018 (Date code LL/G) had a depth of flavor completely missing from the older bottle.  I have bunkered several in case they are unable to keep such well aged stocks in the mix.

I thought I noticed the same even between early-2018 and summer-2018 bottlings when I did a a side-by-side but had similar concerns about confirmation bias. The placebo effect is real though, and my thought is if it means that I enjoy those bottlings more than others even when the actual difference is negligible, who cares?  I am still getting more enjoyment from the whiskey in my glass, and isn't that the point anyway? I will definitely be bunkering more /G coded bottles. 

Edited January 23, 2019 by Seasick Sailor

[Seasick Sailor]

22 hours ago, kevinbrink said:

I think last year was actually Jimmy and Eddie's combined 101, Rarebird101 seemed to believe that as well if you read his blog post about the store pick he did. 

https://rarebird101.com/2018/11/18/one-a-century/

I actually reached out to Rare Bird about this, and he replied that WT confirmed that there would not be a 101-year celebration release. 

 

Did anyone get a bottle of his One and a Century pick? He was refreshingly honest about it not being worth secondary market prices. He seems like a great dude, and he has certainly earned himself another Patreon supporter with his honesty, willingness to respond, and the great content he provides.  

[mross]

Put me in the cult of the Turkey (among others, why limit yourself) WT101 is quite good. To me it is preferable to some higher priced stuff. I am also a fan of WTKS.

[Mako254]

50 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

I actually reached out to Rare Bird about this, and he replied that WT confirmed that there would not be a 101-year celebration release. 

 

Did anyone get a bottle of his One and a Century pick? He was refreshingly honest about it not being worth secondary market prices. He seems like a great dude, and he has certainly earned himself another Patreon supporter with his honesty, willingness to respond, and the great content he provides.  

 

One a century was fantastic. 

 

I need to get a little to @flahute

[CardsandBourbon]

On 1/20/2019 at 7:31 PM, Seasick Sailor said:

Has anyone tried the Master's Keep Decades? The state store near me has a bottle right at MSRP that is calling my name. Reviews seem positive.

 

I think they have a bottle of Revival too, but I am a little hesitant due to the Sherry-barrel finish. 

I have a bottle of the Decades that I got with the retirement money my office gave me.  Therefore I saved it and opened it last April 30th.  Walked out of the office, came home and proceeded to open it and my bottle of EC 18 to celebrate my retirement.  It was and is a really good bourbon.  I haven't tried the sherry finished one, but then I'm not a fan of finished bourbons.

[fishnbowljoe]

Tell you about Wild Turkey. Well........  

 

With all the kudos given WT as of late, here's sumthin' that I've been wondering about. Their new still/distillery came on line back in June of 2011. (Man how time flies.) That's a little over 7 1/2 years ago. Just how much of the distillate since then has been bottled? Is there a chance that this might be a factor with the recent good vibes for WT? Might be. Could be. Bueller? Things that make you go hmmm. 

 

Biba! Joe 

 

[Mako254]

1 hour ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Tell you about Wild Turkey. Well........  

 

With all the kudos given WT as of late, here's sumthin' that I've been wondering about. Their new still/distillery came on line back in June of 2011. (Man how time flies.) That's a little over 7 1/2 years ago. Just how much of the distillate since then has been bottled? Is there a chance that this might be a factor with the recent good vibes for WT? Might be. Could be. Bueller? Things that make you go hmmm. 

 

Biba! Joe 

 

 Definitely some if the new still rye has been put out. I’d think it very likely new still bourbom has gone into 81 and 101/RB. 

 

To my knowledge, all single barrel selections right now and previously are still old still. 

Maybe 2020 or 21 before new still barrels are in the program. 

[Seasick Sailor]

Can anyone provide or point me in the direction of a breakdown of the import only WT releases? I don't travel to Europe very often, but I do occasionally go to Central America and have family that regularly travels from there to the States. I'd love to pick up some WT offerings that aren't available here. 

[meadeweber]

On 1/28/2019 at 1:00 PM, Seasick Sailor said:

Can anyone provide or point me in the direction of a breakdown of the import only WT releases? I don't travel to Europe very often, but I do occasionally go to Central America and have family that regularly travels from there to the States. I'd love to pick up some WT offerings that aren't available here. 

I've had:

8 year, 101 proof

12 year, 101 proof

13 year, 91 proof 

 

The first 2 were from the UK and the 13 year was from Japan (although they have it in the UK as well).

I'm not sure if they are available in Central or South America.

 

They are all great but the 12 year is amazing!

[kevinbrink]

46 minutes ago, meadeweber said:

I've had:

8 year, 101 proof

12 year, 101 proof

13 year, 91 proof 

 

The first 2 were from the UK and the 13 year was from Japan (although they have it in the UK as well).

I'm not sure if they are available in Central or South America.

 

They are all great but the 12 year is amazing!

It's funny I tend to generally prefer sub 10 year old bourbon but for whatever reason I really love the 13 year old, substantially more than RR 10 yr which is similarly proofed, there are even nights when it works better than anything else in the cabinet. 

[Bob_Loblaw]

On 1/23/2019 at 12:17 PM, Mako254 said:

 

One a century was fantastic. 

 

Seconded.  A fantastic pour.  Exceptional finish.

[Seasick Sailor]

Did a recon mission at lunch. Local LS has a bottle of Decades and some early-2018 Rare Breed with about a dozen bottles behind it. Going to buy the Decades and see if any of those Rare Breed bottles is from summer/fall 2018. If so, one or two of those will be coming home with me too.