Wild Turkey Master's Keep Unforgotten

Nose- Sweet dark caramel, rye and baking spice, green grass, vanilla, oak and black walnut woods, orange peel, looks thick in the glass. Maybe getting some kettle corn. Taste- balance between sweet sugars and spicy woods, almost a banana nut bread, the age smooths out but wood doesn't over power. It stays extremely flavorful, it's complex and delicious. Finish - bourbon vanilla, barrel, spices carry on but fades into more sweetness. Minty real spearmint. Dark cherry soda. Probably my favorite Master Keep to date.

Messing around in the new app - tried to use flavor tags but they don’t do this justice. Wound up pouring a few from a friends bottle while talking music theory and plucking guitar strings. To be clear - I know little to no music theory despite 13 years of violin and an on-off relationship with guitar. Obsessed (a habit/fault of mine) with understanding chord structure, I would like to offer some half baked parallels. Most chords can stand on 3 (or even 2 notes). If you want to create tension or get a little spicy then a 4th note can jazz things up. Speaking of jazz - why stick with a major or minor diatonic scale when swashbuckling pentatonic scales and stealthy modes can make schizophrenia sound like it makes sense. This whiskey does all of that. The 8-9y rye is hardly young. Unsure if the dustier/attic qualities come from the rye or the 14y bourbon. This exudes age and complexity in a way that leaves you thinking this could be a barley legal rye (Russel’s Rye single barre style - but aged). No doubt the price is steep but this is on my list to Santa. The fruit, spice, dark sugars and long finish check all of my boxes - holiday or year-round.

I wish I could have tasted the rye and bourbon separately. I feel like the bourbon just gets lost here. Overpowered by the rye spices. All rye finish.

In terms of masters keep, this is my clear favorite besides the 17 year bottled in bond. Nose is full of cinnamon and bits of butterscotch. Maybe some raisin. Has a heavy quality to it. On palate there is an incredible balanced oak note. Sweet aspect as well, like sticky toffee pudding, is not overpowering. Ends with almost a cherry like quality.

Spicy front, cinnamon, oak

Nose: Raisins, Cherries, Treacle, Maple Syrup, Cinnamon, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Cloves, Vanilla, Dill, Spearmint, Peppermint, Walnuts, Apple Cider Palate: Vanilla, Maple Syrup, Butterscotch, Toffee, Cloves, Licorice, Spearmint, Bubble Gum, Stewed Red Apples Finish: Dill, Walnuts, Spearmint, Vanilla, Root Beer, Cherry Cola, Maple Syrup, Nutmeg

Amazing. The old rye comes through in such a satisfying way.