Wild Turkey Rye

It’s all there on the label—rye. If you want a classic rye, this is it.

Spicy, a little burn. Tastes like it smells. Citrus and cinnamon and spearmint. Consistent every sip. A great rye for the price.

Nice, sweet carmel and vanilla taste, rye spice without being overwhelming, little to no burn

Nice spice notes, smooth at first but with a spicy bite in the finish.

Spice and cinnamon. Not much mint

Striking out on my search for Master's Keep, I decided to pick up one of the final Turkey offerings I have left to try. Turkey Rye, how good(or bad) is it? Ding Ding.. that bell ringing was the answer to me wondering if this would remind of the Russell's 6 year I put away not that long ago, and yes it certainly does! On the nose we get fresh cut lemon with some saw grass greeness, dill and mint. Yes along with the ethanol that does add up to a bit of the "furniture polish" smell that offends some. This one drinks like it smells, front is rye spice and lemon pepper, it leads straight into the hard hitting ethyl and dry grassy middle finish, while maybe a bit on the young side it really doesn't act up all that much, a bit of gritty rye bread sweetness unveils through the middle and more of a fade to black finish than anything else follows. While it's nothing impressive it's also not all that bad, coming in at the bottom of the straight rye price points, it compares easily in cost to the considerably sweeter, JD and Crown ryes. Just hints of the bubble gum sugars and honey, this is a nice compromise between a 95/5 and the sweet high corn ryes. I'd imagine some would prefer this as a cocktail base rather than straight drinker considering it's lack of refinement. Still Turkey Rye has some of the character of some of the far pricier ryes, that folks pay through the nose for, proving that even as one of Wild Turkey's lesser products they continue to be one of the more capable distilleries going. Cheers!