Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary Bourbon

This one has been on my list to try for a while now, but it’s been very elusive, that or I just can’t seem to go to the right liquor stores or bars to finally get a taste of this. Luckily @ctbeck11 had a bottle of it and was kind enough to share a sample with me. With excitement on finally getting this one, I open up the sample, pour it in a glass and leave the room for a few minutes to let it rest. I came back to the glass to take my first smell and instantly start thinking someone accidentally spilled tea in my bourbon. After a quick interrogation of my wife and daughter, and browse through distiller, it seems my glass was not accidentally tea spiked as I’m not the only one with those tea notes. Anyways, back to the glass, the nose starts with a tea that’s between green and black, but I’m leaning more towards an earthy powdered matcha aroma along with evergreen pines or mint, then comes some candied ginger, licorice, cherry and apple fruits with light nutty flavors into caramel, leather and light barrel spices with a medium ethanol burn. The taste starts with a medium mouthfeel and notes similar to the nose with those matcha green tea notes up front, then cloves, evergreen pines, leading to cherry and apple, candied ginger, nuts, medium oak tannins with leather and light barrel spices before a medium ethanol burn and finish that is long and lingers with caramel, cherry, apple, burnt pie crust, leather and light barrel spices. Overall, I like this whiskey for its uniqueness as I’ve never once thought of a tea steeped bourbon before this one. I looked to see what a bottle would cost me now and best I could find is Whiskey Exchange for over 200 and would much rather use that money towards a few bottles of OF1920 or Bookers.

Taste: Chilled neatly in a glen cairn glass Nose: (3.5) Musty oak and barrel. Characteristic Wild Turkey nose which pleases me. Some vanilla but lacks some in complexity. Palate: (4.25) The oak is upfront but gives way to an almost peanut brittle sweetness. As it catches air it releases more flavor like cherry syrup, and rye bread. What this lacks in complexity on the nose it makes up for on the palate. It makes me want to study it more. Finish: (4.5) I love the finish. It balances sweetness and spice and then fades gradually without heating you up. It is a well conducted symphony on the finish. It is like rocking out to your favorite song after you have dialed up the perfect EQ. I am a big Wild Turkey admirer and not turned off by some of the "reputation" prejudice that the brand gets. I will say though that the price point is high by comparison to other Wild Turkey premiums. I got just as much enjoyment from Russell 10 yr SiB and Rare Breed for half the bottle price. That saying......go get you some Diamond Anniversary because now I feel a need to buy Master's Keep for a side by side comparison!

Nose - black tea, cherry, apple, chalky caramel, spiced vanilla, bubble gum, dry peanut must (similar to the Beam funk, but not quite as funky), horehound, mild licorice, sweet subtle oak, light cinnamon, mild ethanol burn. Taste - black tea, cherry, grape, strong (but not bitter) oak notes, peanut, licorice, black pepper, slight rye spice, caramel, sweet tobacco, dry spiced vanilla, almost nonexistent alcohol bite, finishing long and mellow with lingering, sweet and mildly tannic earthy tea flavors. I rarely get tea flavors with bourbon, and never this strongly before. While I generally like higher proof bourbons better, I disagree with some of the other reviewers who indicated this would be better at a higher proof. It is wonderfully mellow; all the harsh edges have been rounded off by time. Reminds me of lounging on a big front porch on a hot summer day drinking sweet iced tea. There are bourbons whose flavor profiles I like better, but this feels perfectly balanced and masterfully engineered. However, for my money I’d rather have two bottles of ECBP.

Give it time in the glass. Too be sipped over time. DON'T put any drops of water like I did at first. Take your time and it will mellow out. Not overly sweet. More nuanced. Dare I say more "sophisticated" bourbon? Menthol, butterscotch, candy apples. Getting marzipan which I assume from the higher content of barley. Hints of vanilla, leather, and nutmeg. I assume vanilla from good casks, leather from the age, and nutmeg from the rye. A hint of brewed tea. All that said I really like Russells 10 year reserve because it is richer is taste and mouthfeel. Both are good. Both are different.

This one needed to open up for much longer than expected before I feel like I got what they were going for. All of the lighter notes were hidden at the beginning and all I got was a ton of oak. After about 20 to 30 minutes in the glass, it got worlds better. That’s where I got the notes of the peanut brittle, vanilla and cherry on the nose. The palate was dry throughout and definitely oak forward but not overoaked in my opinion. For some reason this one really makes me want to sit down with my grandpa and talk over a good glass.

I won’t lie, I liked it of course but it was not in my top 5 WT elites. For my taste this only competes with some of their midrange expressions but with a heftier fee. The nose was dry with aromas of floral, aged oak and char. The palette was similar with oak leading the show. This was best as a neat pour as water/ice muddied the waters too much. I don’t regret the purchase, it was enjoyed, but I would not repeat unless 20-30 less in price.