ContemplativeFox
Wild Turkey Rye 101
Rye — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
December 17, 2021 (edited March 4, 2022)
Rating: 12/23
I've heard that this is much better, but I hated the regular Wild Turkey Straight Rye (10/23). Well, hated it too strong of a term, but I'd sooner dump it down the drain than absorb its alcohol and calories into my body. Fingers crossed for this one. Unlike the regular Wild Turkey Rye, this is produced at the Wild Turkey distillery instead of being sourced from MGP, so I'm hopeful that it will be quite different.
N: Light. Mineral, herbal, vegetal, some smoke, earthy, a touch of lemon and green apple, a little of that sdavoriness of young distillate that borders on meatiness. Honestly, I'm not enjoying this nose.
P: Kind of light, especially for its proof. Tart with rye spices (ehite pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger), minerals, and bitter herbs. Then some clean water sweetness comes out. There's some alcohol harshness and a little of that youthful alcohol savoriness. Occasionally, I get a light corn sweetness backing holding it all up. There's eventually a light layer of dry wood too, with definite tannins. Oh, there's some sweet vanilla in here too. Also some green apples. As I continue sipping this, I appreciate it more, but I'm having trouble getting past its lightness, roughness, and lack of any awesome flavors.
F: Tannic with clean water, lingering harshness, a bit of savoriness mixed with spices, vanilla, and green apple.
- Conclusion -
This is young with plenty of flaws, but it's not bad. I don't really like it though and it suffers as a mixer because of its lightness. Unfortuantely, I'm not really sure what to do with this.
Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon (14/23) stands out from this because it's richer and fuller. And even that isn't a very rich or full dram. This cannot be better than a 13.
Doing some more side-by-siding, this is at least a 12. So that makes it either a 12 or 13. If I had to pick right now, I'd go for the 12, unfortunately. I almost gave this the 13, but that harshness keeps it at a 12.
22.0
USD
per
Bottle
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
@BDanner I didn't realize they bottled in Indiana! It's very possible that I misread the label and it actually said "bottled in Indiana". If only I still had that bottle to check.
@ContemplativeFox I know they moved their bottling operation to Indiana in the early 00’s, but what was being bottled was still distilled in KY. Interesting.
@ContemplativeFox wow! Total surprise there. My understanding was that they have been making their own since the mid-70’s. Maybe that’s why I like the 101 so much better.
@BDanner The bottle of regular WT rye I got said distilled in Indiana. I was pretty surprised too!
I'd never heard that MGP was the source of their regular WT Rye (I assume you mean the 81 proof). I always heard it was a WT product with a 60'ish% rye mashbill (not sure on the percent, but fairly confident it was not one of the 51% barely ryes).