Overall Wild Turkey 101 is a balanced and robust whiskey that never disappoints. It’s packed to the brim with flavor and is as versatile as a bourbon can get. It’s delicious neat, holds up on the rocks and is abso-freaking-loutly amazing in cocktails.
Full Answer
Is wild turkey a good bourbon brand?
Wild Turkey is one of the most well-known bourbon brands out there. It’s had success for decades producing bourbon, and its bottle design is instantly recognized by many of us. Wild Turkey 101 is what many would consider an “entry-level bourbon.”
Is Wild Turkey 101 a good whiskey?
Wild Turkey 101 Review Summary Wild Turkey 101 is one of the best value bourbons around. It’s insanely good and at a price that is worth celebrating. Overall 87.5 Nose (5) Palate (5) Finish (5) Balance, Body & Feel (5) Sending User Review 3.09(248votes) Comments Rating3.6(5reviews) More from The Whiskey Jug
What is the alcohol content of Wild Turkey whiskey?
With its high alcohol content of 101 proof (50.5% ABV) it is the strong flagship of the distillery. What proof is Wild Turkey whiskey? Wild Turkey is distilled at a very low proof in order to help embody all of the barrel flavors during aging.
Is wild turkey rye whiskey barrel proof?
After many years of waiting, Wild Turkey rye fans' prayers were answers, as the company introduced Rare Breed Rye in summer of 2020. Wild Turkey whiskey has a lower barrel entry proof than any major whiskey producer. This yields barrel proof whiskey that doesn't reach the palate-scorching proofs you might find on the shelf next to it.
Is Wild Turkey whiskey any good?
Wild Turkey 101 is a solid, but not great, bourbon. At its best, it's straightforward and drinkable, so it's appropriate for many situations. It was also significantly more mellow than I expected, so it doesn't require much of my attention, and sometimes that's all I need.
Is Wild Turkey top shelf?
Wild Turkey Bourbon 101 is another top-shelf bourbon from master distillers that exactly know what they're doing down to the very last detail. Truth be told, this American liquor brand has perfected creating the premium spirit for more than 100 years.
Is Wild Turkey a sipping whiskey?
Low-proof whisky is no longer popular, however, and the previously named Wild Turkey 81 has been renamed to Wild Turkey Bourbon Whiskey. It's still bottled at 40.5% (81 proof), and the flavour is unchanged. Wild Turkey Bourbon Whiskey can be sipped. It's gentle on the palate, but there's some character there.
Is Wild Turkey whiskey strong?
Wild Turkey is distilled at a very low proof and according to the company, helps embody all of the barrel flavors during aging. It comes out of the barrel at around 109 proof necessitating only slight dilution before being bottled at 101 proof.
Is Wild Turkey a premium bourbon?
Wild Turkey Rare Breed It was a premium bourbon bottled at barrel proof and proved to the spirits community — including Jimmy Russell and Wild Turkey, clearly — that whiskey drinkers wanted more than affordability and flavored spirit.
Is Wild Turkey a bottom shelf?
Another name, bourbon drinkers are really familiar with is Wild Turkey. While its 101 might be the best bargain in the bourbon world, its Wild Turkey 81 is a bottom-shelf gem.
What shelf is Wild Turkey?
It is a two-time winner of the Bottom-Shelf Bracket contest in 2017 and 2019, winning both times it has appeared. Please welcome to the stage: Wild Turkey 101! And their opponent is the entry-level release at the cross-town Four Roses distillery.
Is Wild Turkey bourbon or whiskey?
Wild Turkey is a brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey distilled and bottled by the Wild Turkey Distilling Co, a division of Campari Group. The distillery is located near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. It offers tours and is part of the American Whiskey Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
Why is it called Wild Turkey?
Wild Turkey was named after a hunting expedition. According to company lore, Wild Turkey got its name after a hunting expedition. A distillery executive named Thomas McCarthy brought some whiskey samples from then-owner Austin Nichols & Co. on a wild turkey hunt.
What's the difference between bourbon and whiskey?
The main differences between bourbon and whiskey are the kind of grain used and where the spirit is produced. Bourbon is an American made whiskey that must contain at least 51 percent corn in its mash and be aged in new, charred-oak barrels.
What is the highest proof Wild Turkey?
The Wild Turkey Distillery is home of the Wild Turkey 101, one of America's bestselling Kentucky straight Bourbons. With its high alcohol content of 101 proof (50.5% ABV) it is the strong flagship of the distillery.
Is Wild Turkey a single malt?
As someone who is a bit of a single malt snob, it takes a lot from a North American spirit to impressive me. Wild Turkey blew my expectations out of the water. First of the nose would not suggest a 101 proof spirit bottled at 50.5 abv. You get apple, apricots, toffee and a rich yet balanced corn malt.
What is the most expensive Wild Turkey bourbon?
To this point, Wild Turkey has just released Russell's Reserve 1998, a phenomenal whiskey aged for more than 15 years. With only 2,070 bottles released and retailing at $250 each, this is Wild Turkey's rarest and most expensive product to date.
What is the strongest Wild Turkey?
The Whiskey With its high alcohol content of 101 proof (50.5% ABV) it is the strong flagship of the distillery.
Is Wild Turkey bourbon or whiskey?
Wild Turkey is a brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey distilled and bottled by the Wild Turkey Distilling Co, a division of Campari Group. The distillery is located near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. It offers tours and is part of the American Whiskey Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
What is the difference between Wild Turkey 81 and 101?
Well the 81 is 81 proof, which is 40.5% alcohol, while the 101 is an eye watering 101 proof, 50.5%, and yes, you can tell the difference straight away, and feel the effects the following morning!
Wild Turkey Need-to-Knows
The house the Russells built: Between them, Jimmy and his son Eddie Russell have accrued more than 100 years on the job at Wild Turkey (Jimmy's father and grandfather are also said to have worked there, before they called it Wild Turkey), most of them as Master Distiller.
Wild Turkey Mashbills
Unlike competitors Buffalo Trace Distillery, Heaven Hill, Brown-Forman and so on, Wild Turkey does not experiment (with publicly available product, anyway) with mashbill. Despite bottling more than 20 expressions, there are only two grain ratios that dictate the foundation of all Wild Turkey whiskey — one for bourbon, one for rye.
Wild Turkey Pricing
From mass-produced products like 101 to highly limited releases like Master's Keep, you could make the argument that Wild Turkey is the only major American whiskey maker whose lineup hasn't been compromised by the Bourbon Boom.
Wild Turkey Bourbon
Wild Turkey's flagship whiskey is, and has been for some time, 101. The high-proof, high-potency bourbon is consistently recognized by reviewers, tasting competitions and best-selling lists. Its combo of price, proof and availability makes it one of the best values in whiskey.
Wild Turkey Rye
Where Wild Turkey bourbon features more rye in the mash than is industry standard, its rye features less. The estimated rye content in the mash sits at 52 percent, just 1 percent more than is legally required to be called rye whiskey.
Wild Turkey Rare Breed
Rare Breed was introduced in the early 1990s as Jimmy Russell's answer to his friend and competitor Booker Noe's landmark release a few years prior, Booker's. Released in 1988, Booker's has a legitimate claim to have lit the fuse of the Bourbon Boom to come.
Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit
Added to the Turkey portfolio in 1994, this is Wild Turkey 101 in single barrel form. Bottles at your local store will change over time as the distillery releases them, the labels bearing the rickhouse the whiskey aged in for eight or so years.
Whiskey Review: Wild Turkey Bourbon
Wild Turkey is one of those famous whiskey brands that everyone knows. It’s been around forever, popularized on TV and in movies — but even so, I’ve never actually had a single sip. I was curious what’s kept this spirit on the shelves throughout the decades so I bought a bottle to figure it out for myself.
History
Thomas Ripy built the Old Hickory Distillery in Tyrone, Kentucky in 1891. This first incarnation of the distillery closed down during prohibition and Thomas died in 1902, but the distillery was resurrected once that dark period ended and became a successful wholesaler for bourbon, which other brands bottled under their own labels.
Packaging
Just like the manufacturing process, there’s nothing remarkable here. The bottle looks like a standard liquor bottle with a screw-on top, and the label is bland and uninteresting with the exception of a wild turkey illustration to brighten things up.
Neat
What I smell primarily from this glass is caramel. There’s a hint of vanilla underneath, but the primary thing that punches you in the nose is that sweet, sweet caramel with a bit of toffee.
On Ice
Things actually get a whole lot better with some ice. The primary flavors that I get are now that caramel and vanilla, with the orange zest relegated to an aftertaste. There’s more nutty flavor and pepper thrown in for good measure, as well.
Fizz (Mule)
In order to make a good Kentucky Mule, the underlying bourbon needs to have some significant character to make itself known through the ginger and the lime juice. In this case there’ just not enough there to make a difference.
Overall Rating
The bourbon parts are pretty good, but in my opinion the citrus and orange flavors are too overpowering to be pleasant. And the rest of the flavors aren’t strong enough to balance it out or make for a good mixer. It’s not undrinkable, but it’s not my first choice.
1. Pedigree
With so many emerging whiskey brands arriving in the last decade, Wild Turkey loyalists are happy to not only know the legacy of the brand, but that the same guys are still making it. Some 66 years ago, 19-year-old Jimmy Russell started working at the distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ky., eventually ascending to master distiller.
2. Price
In a world where so many brands have taken advantage of the current bourbon boom by “premiumizing” their longtime flagship products — adding fancier corks, more expensive bottles, higher price points — Wild Turkey has always let the liquid inside do the talking. Wild Turkey 101 is extremely affordable, always has been, and always will be.
3. Flavor profile
Just as time costs money, aging does, too. Many less expensive bourbons can feel immature and, thus, a little unfinished, that’s hardly the case with Wild Turkey 101. While it lacks an age statement, most barrels in the blend are in the six-to-eight-year range. In an era of bourbon shortages, that’s nothing to sneeze at.
4. Versatility
You have your “sipping whiskeys” — those too expensive to enjoy any other way — and then your “mixing whiskeys,” those that need to be covered up to be more palatable. Wild Turkey 101 shines because it works any way you want to enjoy it.
5. Proof
So many bourbon brands today offer their economy shoppers the bare minimum, i.e., an 80-proof spirit, the lowest legal level. Not so in the case of Wild Turkey.
6. Rye, too
When rye, too, saw extreme demand over the last decade, many bourbon brands weren’t prepared, having scrapped their rye programs in the 1980s and ’90s when no one was drinking it. Luckily, that was not the case at Wild Turkey, which has continuously distilled rye whiskey since the 1970s.
7. The higher-end
Of course, Wild Turkey is well aware of the current bourbon zeitgeist and has recently taken to releasing more top-shelf offerings. There’s Rare Breed, a barrel-proof mingling of well-aged whiskeys. There’s also Kentucky Spirit and Russell’s Reserve, both of which represent Wild Turkey in single-barrel form.
OUR HERITAGE
Our people, products and passions are all steeped in a rich tradition that dates back before Prohibition. And that’s what makes Wild Turkey bourbon different for all the right reasons.
OUR CRAFT
Premium ingredients, select barrels, a labor-of-love process, and the patience of our Master Distillers. All together, you’ve got real Kentucky Straight bourbon, made the right way.
What proof is Wild Turkey whiskey?
Wild Turkey is distilled at a very low proof in order to help embody all of the barrel flavors during aging. It comes out of the barrel at around 109 proof necessitating only slight dilution before being bottled at 101 proof.
Is Wild Turkey good sipping whiskey?
Because of its price, it’s not sacrilegious to deploy it in a basic bourbon and Coke but it also holds up in cocktails like the Old Fashioned and Manhattan. That said, it’s perfect on the rocks and it offers enough complexity and maturity for neat-sipping, too.
Is Wild Turkey straight bourbon?
A fine made bourbon that’s not quite expressive enough for a whisky-forward cocktail, and a little too light to sip straight.
What percentage is Wild Turkey whiskey?
A lower strength bourbon from Wild Turkey, bottled at 81 proof (40.5% abv) and created by the associate distiller Eddie Russell, the son of master distiller Jimmy Russell.
Is Wild Turkey 101 bad?
Wild Turkey 101 is a good, but not great, bourbon. At its best, it’s straightforward and drinkable, so it’s appropriate for many situations. It was also significantly more mellow than I expected. It doesn’t require much of my attention, and sometimes that’s all I need.
What alcohol is stronger than vodka?
With 95% alcohol by volume, Everclear, a grain alcohol made in the U.S.A., is shockingly strong, but it’s not the strongest liquor in the world. Across the globe, distillers amp up the alcohol content of rums, vodkas, absinthes, whiskeys, and more to create eye-watering, high-proof bottles.
Can you drink Wild Turkey 101 straight?
Purists like to drink it neat, which means that the bourbon is at room temperature, and without ice. Some like to add a few drops of water to the whiskey, to “open up” the aroma of the bourbon.
