Wild Turkey Rye

Bland, weak, pony

Fresh grass, honey, slightly floral,

Nose: honey, mint Palate: thin, honey and light fruit Finish: light with more honey

Love the spices.

Milwaukee w ab and josh. Better than I thought

Rating: 11/23 I've found the Wild Turkey 101 and Rare Breed to be great VFM and I quite enjoyed the Master's Keep Revival (though it was definitely not as good VFM), so I'm looking forward to trying my first Wild Turkey Rye. N: Rye spice, some grain, apple, a hint of something floral, and maybe a hair of smoke or something. It's not excissively light but not particularly rich either. Nothing unusual or complex here. It doesn't come across as an interesting blend or finish or substantially aged or anything like that, but it smells serviceable. I'm kind of disappointed already since Wild Turkey stands out as a high rye bourbon, so it seems like their rye should be really good. Maybe its just their bold choice to include so much rye that makes their bourbon so effective. P: Now for the moment of truth. I get pepper, cinnamon, rich sweet grain, a little bit of apple, and something a bit floral that doesn't quite fit along with a faint dash of smoke or char and some kind of artificial mineral flavor. It's all fairly jumbled together though. It isn't rich like Rittenhouse or Pikesville, but it isn't spicy and herbal with a funky edginess like WhistlePig PiggyBack either. It's just very bland. I mean, I can get some flavors out of this, but there's nothing really great and something just a bit off in this floral bitter way. Maybe the floral and smoke flavors are interacting badly to produce that artificial mineral flavor or something. F: The finish emphasizes the discordant element a bit more, unfortunately. It isn't really a pleasant finish and that's the major failing here. It's too bad because there's a solid rye at the heart of this. I'm pretty disappointed in this. It would be fine as a mixer, but it costs the same amount as Rittenhouse which is bolder and has a 25% higher ABV. For sipping, there are much more interesting and balanced ryes. Even Templeton Rye 4, which I have not been a fan of, has some clean floral notes despite its lightness. The flavors in Templeton Rye 4 are slightly more distinct and slightly better executed, so I give it a tiny edge, but I'd say that these two are of similar quality. I'm thinking 10-12 for this one, so I'll give it an 11 for now. It could be that the artificial mineral and char flavors I'm getting are what the distiller reviewer attributes to honey, in which case I might like them better on a subsequent tasting, but for now I need to go with what I've experienced so far.