With the start of the new US television season this week, I thought it apt to have a bourbon for my next review on my blog. The Wild Turkey 101 is quite popular on television, cropping up often in NCIS and being reference on The Sopranos, Seinfeld and one of my all-time favourite shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Whisky: Wild Turkey 101, 50.5% ABV
Region: Kentucky, USA
Style: Bourbon
Age: NAS
The Ripy brothers built a distillery in Tyrone, Kentucky near Lawrenceburg in 1869. They had consolidated the current facility by 1905 and resumed distilling after Prohibition. According to legend, distillery executive Thomas McCarthy took some warehouse samples on a wild turkey hunting trip in 1940 and the next year his friends were asking him for “some of that wild turkey whiskey”.
Wild Turkey 101 is a 101 proof (translates to 50.5% ABV) bourbon and is a mix of mostly 6, 7 and 8 year old bourbons. One theory on the mash recipe is thought to be 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley.
Colour: Burnished to tawny with long, slow and thick legs.
Nose: Softer than expected and fairly sweet with maple syrup, slightly burnt caramel, sweet fruit and berry notes. There is also some creaminess about, touch of citrus fruit, wood notes and some sweet winter some spiciness (cinnamon and ginger) on background.
Palate: Rich, sweet, spicy, full and mouth coating. Winter spices (more cinnamon and ginger), touch of cooked citrus fruits with honey and hot out the oven backed dessert (malva pudding) drizzled with maple syrup. Palate is complex and well balanced.
Finish: Long with a sweet spicy tingle and nice baked dessert sweetness at end.
Overall: A bourbon that reminds of the festive season with its winter spices and baked dessert sweetness. It is also one that I feel would perform well as a pre Xmas dinner drink, not to mention also as a during and post dinner drink as well.
My Score: 83
The Smoky Dram 