BeppeCovfefe
Wild Turkey 101 Rye
Rye — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
May 29, 2021 (edited September 30, 2021)
While the low proof Turkey rye is a worthy bottle that certainly earns a spot on any drink mixers shelf, what about the 101 version? Is it better? Let's find out.
Right off the bat the nose is a fruity rich spice bomb, a true rye drinkers nose. The barrel strength amazingly yields next to no ethyl burn. Nose: 5.0
The front indeed gives up some of that orange citrus and cinnamon, yet another Christmasy drink. The well aged flavor is apparent, no harsh bitters, just some feint wood barrel notes and hints of cherry vanilla and leathers. All I can say is if you drink this rye and are not impressed, there really has to be something wrong with you, or you just aren't really a "rye guy". The Turkey 101 rye just brings it, in an amazing manner and with all that barrel proof richness you might expect from far pricier rye's that too often just don't deliver. If that's not enough you can find this for under 30 dollars or less than 1/3rd of what you would expect to shell out for Peerless. It really doesn't remind me of the Russells profile the way the lower proof Turkey rye does, instead it seems to have a bolder yet more balanced profile.
Recommendation, under 30$ BUY(buy extra and stash it), because this is less expensive doesn't mean waste on mixers, use the cheap Dickel/Bulleit etc for that, this is a dram worthy of drinking neat. I'm giving an extra .25 for the value but really it probably deserve more. Get it now while you can, (or kick yourself later).
Cheers!
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@LiquorLonghorn ok, no, it's not as good as Rare Breed Rye, but then it's half the price.. yea tried the Rare Breed and it's fantastico!
Agree. Picked up a bottle tonight and this review is spot on.
@Whiskylonghorn I've only had the 6 year Russels not the SiB or the Rare Breed, this reminds me less of the Russels than the lower proof Turkey Rye did, which has more of that dill-saw-lemon grass note. The 101 has a very mild dill note, but it's mostly pushed aside by the orange citrus and corn sugars. I'll put it like this, consider the price and you can't go wrong with the 101 Rye.
@BDanner If it wasn't for Distiller, I wouldn't even know the 101 Rye existed. It's really pretty uncommon around here and I've only seen it at Total Wine, only 2 Total Wines in Georgia are allowed to sell liquor, luckily I'm in easy driving range of one of them.
@BeppeCovfefe same here. I knew that it had a cult following among bartenders/mixologists, so I was expecting good and got damn near perfect. You’re right on pricing. I think it was 24.95, so yeah, just over $25 OTD.
@BDanner I was expecting something good but this outperforms by a mile. I had to pay just over 25, but well worth it imo.
Gold mine
This has been my surprise Whiskey of 2021. I was unimpressed with the standard 81 when I tried it several years back. NC just started carrying the 101 version and I picked it up a few weeks ago. Holy crap is it good. Right up there with Pikesville for favorite Rye (High West Double Rye has suffered from lack of older stocks the last couple releases). I haven’t reviewed it yet because I wanted to make sure my high score held up through the rest of the bottle, and so far it has held up. And for less than $25 to boot. "
How does this stack up against Rare Breed rye or RR SiB rye?