Review #106 - Wild Turkey 101
Wild Turkey 101 - one of the most well-known and best-selling Kentucky straight bourbons - has gained notoriety in the whisky community for having solid character and presenting a great value proposition due to its reasonable pricing. It's bottled at 50.5%, as well, only increasing the value, so this is a bottle we keep on our shelf. We've gone through three or four bottles of it in the last few years, so we figured it's time for a review.
We don't have an age statement, but rumor has it that this is generally aged for 6 years or so before bottling. It sports a mashbill of 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malted barley, so we may get some spice wrapped up in those layers of classic bourbon sweetness.
Wild Turkey 101
USA - Bourbon
Price Paid: USD 19 (2021)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 21 (2023)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 50.5% ABV
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 19 months; bottles at 50%, 90%, 60% (blind tasting), and 50% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Brown sugar plus a kick of dry oak on the nose, spice and a mild heat. It really isn't too sweet overall - leans a little dry, with dusty grain and peanut, anise, clove, and charcoal. When there are sweet notes, they present as vanilla and red fruit like cherries, maybe a hint of banana at times, too. The oak grows buttery and damp with more air time and at the end, a hint of boozy bananas foster rum sauce.
Palate: Plenty of spice again, but also some sweetness to balance it. The medium mouthfeel is full of pepper and clove, spiced orange and burnt orange rind, wood chips from a smoker, anise, some smoked paprika at times. There is more of that rum sauce and a bit of caramel bringing the sugary side, some vanilla and sweeter cinnamon, too. After a bit of cherry, there are some grainy and nutty notes, maybe a hint of straw.
Finish: Warm and medium length in the finish, muted spices of clove, pepper, and cinnamon once again. The oak is rich but not overdone, and it adds some tickling anise and a nice Kentucky hug when paired with the strength of the spirit. At the end, bits of red fruit and a mild raw banana.
Final Note: A solid bourbon, but to us, not exceptional. This is a $20 bourbon, so maybe it isn't supposed to be that special? Maybe some truth to that, but this gets so much hype in the community, maybe we were expecting more. Still, it's a solid sipper, and absolutely killer in a spirit-forward cocktail. Because of its reasonable price, it's at the top of the value heap, too - very strong recommendation to try this one. We always keep it around.
Our Average Rating: 5.8 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 8.65
Check out some of our other Wild Turkey reviews:
