Wild Turkey 101 8 Year Bourbon

Big, spicy, full

As good as it gets in whiskey for this price point

A nice well balanced daily drinker. Its the regular 101 with the volume slightly turned up.

Spicy, oaky, vanilla, very solid. Maybe a bit of fruit? A bit off balance, but a very good pour. If I see it for less than 40 I'm absolutely picking up another bottle

Glass: Glencairn, rested 15 minutes. Color: Medium amber. Nose: Lots of caramel and vanilla, with some fruity notes beneath, and some oak. Palate: Cinnamon red hots, some clove and oak. Finish: Medium heat but long length. Splash: Clove and oak notes become more prominent. Overall: 8.5/10 - This is a nice step above the NAS Wild Turkey 101, and it makes a much better sipper. I haven’t tried it side by side with Heaven Hill 7 year BiB at $50, but I have a feeling the Heaven Hill would win. The $40-50 price range is crowded, but this might be my #2 in that price range.

Wild Turkey only has one bourbon mash bill - 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley. This bottle is eight years old, and cost $44.99 at Total Wine. In the glass the color is dark copper. 𝗡𝗼𝘀𝗲: On the nose I got honey and apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, a little caramel, and a little vanilla. 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹: Smooth. 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲: On the palate there were cinnamon, brown sugar, a little oak, and butter. 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵: The finish gave me a general spice, leading into honey and a hint of oak. The length is medium. 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: This is good bourbon. It seems to have a darker profile than my current bottle of regular 101 - more like the 101 used to be, before the quality bobbled in late 2024. This 8 year bourbon isn't dramatically better than the regular, but I think the price is fair for the quality. 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: My hick scale has eight levels with 1 at the bottom. This whisky gets a 6, Fine. That's equivalent to 3.75 stars, 75/100, or 7.5/10.

Nose is full of spice and wood; fresh ground black pepper, mustard seed, musty oak, damp cellar, stale rainwater, tree bark, white sugar, and light cinnamon. Many unappealing notes. Palate is a complete nutmeg bomb. Add clove, powdered sugar, caramel, bitter oak chips, and a hint of flan. Some decent notes, but honestly the nutmeg overpowers everything. Finish offers somehow even MORE nutmeg and clove, cinnamon, tannic oak, chili pepper spice, furniture polish, and spearmint. It’s long but you wish it would end. Mouthfeel is full-bodied and chewy and the best part of this train wreck. W.T.F. Shockingly bad. WT101 is my go-to daily drinker, and nearly all the sweetness has been sucked out and replaced with tons of nutmeg. The 70th anniversary release was 8 years old and 101 proof and the profile was nothing like this. I can’t believe what I am tasting; as this is easily the worst WT expression I have ever had. At $44, it just made me angry as I’d much rather have regular old 101 at half the price. Huge disappointment.