Wild Turkey Cornerstone Review

Wild Turkey Cornerstone, the fourth whiskey released by Wild Turkey in the United States as part of their Master's Keep series. This time around we get a high proof rye, batched from barrels aged nine to eleven years. As someone who has tasted Wild Turkey rye at the 9+ year old mark straight from the barrel on several occasions, I was excited to see them release a rye with these stats. At the same time though I was very grouchy about the fact that it would be such a high priced offering and initially convinced myself I wasn't interested. My sensibilities went out the window one random day though when I walked into a store and saw a lone bottle of this on the shelf. In a rare moment of taterism, I caved and bought it so here we are. 

Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey; Aged at least 9 years; 54.5% ABV, $180

Nose: The nose is a bit flat - some doughy rye bread, maybe a little zesty citrus, and then your typical American whiskey sweet notes (vanilla, caramel, etc). If I really reach I can barely tell it is a rye with some spicy zip but there's really not a lot of character. I will say this bottle has been open for quite some time so I think the nose is slightly oxidized.

Taste: Much better than the nose. The mouthfeel is full and there a good amount of classic bourbony sweet notes here. There are some light citrus fruits, maybe tangerine? Towards the finish there are some spicy rye spearmint and clove along with decent oaky notes. Again the rye notes seem to be taking a back seat - If I had this blind I'd probably guess it was a high rye bourbon. 

Thoughts: This is pretty decent, bordering on good though like most other Kentucky straight ryes it's not going to blow you away with spice notes. I shared the last of this bottle with another member of my bourbon club and while she liked it she commented it's not really a rye drinker's rye. As someone who also particularly enjoys high proof Alberta and MGP ryes that comment certainly resonates with me. Overall, I don't think this is that much better than the Russell's Reserve Single Barrel Rye you can buy off the shelf today. A few years ago I probably wouldn't have said that but lately I think that product tastes more mature and that comment is a testament to how good it is now. Given that comparison it's hard for me to feel anything beyond meh about this release despite the fact that it's actually pretty good whiskey.

Rating: B/B-

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.