Wild Turkey Forgiven

2 oz in glen cairn. This was batch 303 (2nd batch). Nose- sugar cookie,vanilla ice cream and cinnamon. There is also honeycrisp apple, and the floral scent of a blossoming fall apple orchard. Palate- absolutely delicious! Somewhat sweet, somwhat sour. The cinnamon stick and vanilla icecream on the nose are on the palate creating a boozy snickerdoodle. Then that delicious honeycrisp apply turns to sour apple green jolly rancher fading into an apple cider-like finish. Finish- smooth finish (shorter with little burn). The finish is not pronounced but transitions from palate to finish and then fades gently. Some may find fault with this as it does not hug or heat you up. I love the gentle transition from sweet bourbon to spicy rye gently and seemlessly which fades like cider. Really well done here! Overall: This is now one of my favorite Wild Turkey expressions. It captures those wonderfully sweet and sassy flavors in Russell's bourbon and adds those spicy, puckery tastes from WT rye and then dovetails them into a wonderful "sweet and sour" sauce! Think Highwest Boureye...but better. The proof is perfect as it is not too hot, or too timid, but just right. Reminds me of the old reeses peanut butter cup commercial- "you put your chocolate into my peanut butter! "No, you put your peanut butter into my chocolate." Everybody wins, and an incredibly tasty creation is born here.

This is so darn good. This is a magnificent blend of Bourbon with sweet, creamy notes yet has the baking spice and backbone of a Rye. The proof is low but makes for one heck of a long sipper.

Today I found a very dusty old bottle of this in a very small shop in New York City. It looks to be from 2013. This is batch 303 (somehow it’s really just the 2nd of 2 batches). Forgiven has been discontinued for a while now, so let’s see what this extinct product is like. The nose has that signature Wild Turkey funk (empty dusty peanut can), dusty rye, charred oak, mint, red ripe apples, maple syrup, fresh bread, and slight bubble gum. The palate has a lighter mouthfeel to it and a little spicy. I get rye, peanut can, vanilla, barrel char, and shoe leather. The finish is nice and on the longer since of medium. There is some subtle vanilla/marshmallow notes along with rye/mint that hang out on the finish. This is a nice change up from other Wild Turkey products that I have come to love. It’s very easy to drink. It’s definitely in the same family, but adds some a little more rye than the others do (aside from WT Rye, or 101 Rye).