It's no secret I'm a huge fan of Wild Turkey. Russell's Reserve Single Barrel is one of the best regularly available premium bourbons and Wild Turkey 101 is a workhorse both as a daily sipper and a great cocktail base. But then there are products like Rare Breed which on paper sound amazing - a barrel proof bourbon that according to marketing and the Russells is a blend of 6, 8, and 12 year old bourbon. The problem though is the last batch at 112.8 introduced in 2014 tasted like there might be a drop of older whiskeys in the blend as it leaned heavily towards 6 years old. A young, corny, fruity forward vibe dominates the taste and is a far cry from the rich, layered elegance you'll find in the older batches like 108.4 (WT-01-99).
So here we are in 2017 and Wild Turkey has released a new batch, identifiable by a proof of 116.8. I have heard comments ranging from it being a step back in the right direction all the way to night and day better than the previous iteration. Call my a cynic but I'm going into this assuming that it's not going to be much different from the last one. For comparison sake, I tasted this new batch against old one over a period of about a month.
No Age Statement; 58.4% ABV; $50
Nose: There's a nice base of vanilla caramel sweets but also a lot of heat trying to keep it pinned down. The fusel ethanol notes are a bit rough. Fruity new make notes like apples and pears are noticeable which suggests a younger profile. That familiar Wild Turkey baking spice note is there along with some zippy menthol. Overall, not that noticeably different from the last batch.
Taste: More sweet forward with more wood depth than the nose - I think that's because the ethanol isn't so front and center. Fruity, grainy, corny notes are certainly present though and are as noticeable as the oak influence. It's a mashup of light honey sweets, darker burnt caramel sugars, corn grain, and baking spices.
Thoughts: I don't love it but I don't hate it which is where I stand with the previous iteration. It's slightly richer with a little more oak depth than the previous one so I'd tepidly give this a vote of a small step in the right direction. Overall, it still tastes more like barrel proof WT 101 which is a blend of 6-8 years rather than a blend of 6, 8, and 12 year old product. At $50 a bottle, I'll pass on buying this in the future and stick to regular old 101 at half the cost and equal enjoyment.
Rating: C+
Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.
I really like the Rare Breed- 116.8 proof much better than the 112.8 version.
ReplyDeleteAt around 31 Euros, it is a steal (Like WT 101 is)here in Germany.