Wild Turkey Jimmy Russell 70th Anniversary Release

Quick bit of editorializing before I begin: if you’re the type of person who blames the refs when your football team loses, you were also likely the kid who took his ball and went home when he wasn’t winning. If it’s a one-score game and there’s a horrible call, you maybe have a leg to stand on, but you still sound like a whiny child when you do it, so if you’re reading this, please just stop. I say this to fans of the team I support as much as I say it to fans of other teams. Stop. Please. Babies. Bad calls suck and they happen to every team. It’s part of the game. Am I jinxing it so that a bad call goes against the Eagles in a close game these week that I’ll feel compelled to complain about? Maybe. But you wont’ actually here me complaining because I walk the walk. Why I bring that up here is of course that I did this tasting that I’m writing up here while watching the Eagles beat the Packers, and there are a lot of Packers fans complaining that it was the referees and not Jordan Love’s three interceptions or even the Green Bay coaches’ game plan that lost them that game. It is what it is though. And the whiskey flowed. This week, I poured the following: Bushmills Distillery Exclusive Acacia Wood, Talisker 2023 Distiller’s Edition, and Wild Turkey Jimmy Russell 70th Anniversary Release. I poured them in that order, going from lowest proof to highest proof, so without further ado, let’s jump right in: Bushmills Distillery Exclusive Acacia Wood My wife went to Ireland this past summer. She visited Teeling and asked me what I wanted her to bring back. I said Blackpitts Cask Strength and Wonders of Wood Swedish Edition, which wasn’t yet available in the States at the time. She visited Middleton and asked what I wanted. I said Gold Spot, Powers John Lane Cask Strength, Method & Madness Garryana Oak. She visited Bushmills, and asked what I wanted, and I said, I have no idea, I don’t really drink Bushmills, ask if there are any distillery exclusives that you can’t get anywhere else. And she came home with two, the first of which we opened on Christmas Eve and then used again for this tasting, Bushmills with no age statement finished in Acacia wood. I don’t mean to throw much shade on Bushmills. They’re fine as an entry dram. I would take either Black or Red Bush in the absence of anything else on offer and enjoy it, but part of the drawback is the low proof. Here with the Acacia wood, the proof is actually a little higher than their standard offerings at 94, which bodes well. But there’s still a reason I chose it first in the lineup, having falsely believed it was 80 proof based on my experience with the dram on Christmas Eve. Nose: Grassy and fresh with cereal, light vanilla and light orchard fruit. Not much going on here, but not unpleasant, which I think is generally how you would describe any Bushmills, which in turn makes me wonder, what exactly is the Acacia wood imparting here? Palate: This has an apple tart/honey nut cheerios quality, that seems common to a lot of blended Irish whisky without the copper undertones, only this a single malt so I’d expect a bit more. There’s a light touch of peach in there and a gentle knock of vanilla. It’s still delicate but better rounded than the nose. Finish: short, spiced apple flavor. Overall, I’m not sure we needed a whole bottle of this. It’s the kind of dram you don’t mind tasting at the distillery, but as a token brought back from the home country, it’s wanting, and I’m not sure it’s any better than Black Bush. I would have been interested to taste them side-by-side, as I think from memory that Black Bush has a stronger character because it’s finished in oloroso sherry. I won’t entirely discount Bushmills Acacia Wood as worthless, but it’s maybe a half-step above middling. Talisker 2023 Distillers Edition The big news with the 2023 Distillers Edition bottles was the removal of the age statements. Given that I’m not tasting this against a previous edition, the question lingers, does the removal of the age statement mean that this really does taste younger than previous editions, or is it simply my imagination imparting that on the whiskey’s character because I know that they’ve intentionally removed the bottling dates? Nose: Obviously this was going to be completely different from the Bushmills and I intended it that way, as I often get more out of a tasting from contrast than similarity. On the nose, there’s a wine dark sweetness mixed with moderate peat, an aroma of black cherries, and very slight salinity giving it that Talisker cured meats undertone that was missing from the Tidal Surge 8 I tasted last week (at least for me). The last Distillers Edition I had was either 2019 or 2020, I can’t remember entirely and at the time I reviewed it, I noted how I’d have loved a candle with the scent of that whisky. I can’t say the same here, though it’s certainly good. It’s just not the one that won me over previously. There’s something missing here that was present in the previous versions, but I can’t place it. Palate: More sweet than peat. The Amoroso Sherry imparts a nice influence, though I do feel like it’s also lacking in strength on the tongue vs. previous Distillers Editions. Give that they bottle around 92 proof with each edition, it’s not that they’ve watered it down. Could it be younger whisky mixed in that isn’t packing the same punch as older stock? Is it that I tasted the barrel proof Tidal Surge 8 Year last week and the memory of a cask strength Talisker is still so clear in my mind? It feels a little like drinking the Talisker version of flat soda. The sweetness mingling with the peat is there as expected, but it’s just not popping. Again, I wouldn’t turn this down, but it’s not really up to the level of the last bottle I had, at least in memory. So is it simply memory making old times better than current times? Finish: The peat lingers for a moderate length and the salinity takes over at the back end. Overall, I enjoyed this, but it didn’t come off as well as previous Distillers Editions, and if you notice, the price doesn’t go down when the age statement comes off, so this might be my last Talisker Distillers Edition. Wild Turkey Jimmy Russell 70th Anniversary Release I had almost given up on this one. It was available in FW&GS stores throughout Pennsylvania, but it went fast, and as none of the local bottles were at stores it was convenient for me to get to during my workday, I considered this a loss. Well, there are always good whiskies out there, you don’t have to try every single one. Some are going to pass you by. Then we had a birthday party to go to over in Delaware mid-December, and Total Wine had a bunch of these at SRP. So I asked my wife to stop there first. And boy am I glad I did. Not going to lie, this was the best pour of the night. I’ve seen a lot of people comparing this to a souped up Wild Turkey 101. And honestly, I don’t know what 101 you’re drinking. To me 101 is a starter set with some decent flavors, but nowhere near the power or complexity of this one. Nose: Swirls of brown sugar and caramel, coco powder with a little oak, a slight nuttiness and traces of coconut. Palate: Milk chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and more prominent coconut, almost like a Mounds bar, creamy mouthfeel, with the brown sugar coming back on hard. Finish: long with both sweetness and spice intermingling, the chocolate quality lingers. Overall, I had considered buying a second bottle while there but didn’t because it was December, my credit card was already pretty high from Christmas presents, and now I regret that I didn’t get it. Probably would have stowed a second away to open a few years from now when the memory had faded, but at least I got the one. My wife joined me in this and loved it as well. We probably had a little too much, but that was okay. After the Eagles game, we put on Cameron Crowe’s Singles on streaming, which is one of our favorite movies, and thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Last week, I put out winners for nose, palate and finish, but there’s no question that the Wild Turkey took all three here. Great whisky, amazing price.

Aroma is classic bourbon and classic WT; caramel, vanilla, baking spices, a hint of cherry, barrel char, and oak. WT101 is my staple daily drinker and there are some notes here not usually found, namely rickhouse funk, fresh cut hay, and sawdust. Ethanol is low, but it’s there. Nothing here is re-inventing the wheel; just a solid bourbon nose. Palate follows the traditional vibe with the caramel and vanilla promised in the nose, cinnamon, nutmeg, white pepper, sticky pipe tobacco, and oak chips. Flavors are robust. Finish is where this expression most differs from standard 101. And man, is it good. Deeper, longer, and richer. Caramel flan/ice cream sundae with peanuts, cinnamon sugar, more oak chips, orange peel, and leather. Mouthfeel also elevated; on the lighter side of full bodied and slick and oily. A great expression with literally zero flaws. Is it a game changer? No. But if aliens landed on Earth tomorrow and said “what is Bourbon?” you could hand them a bottle of this in confidence. At $50, the real question is “is it $30 better than regular WT 101?” and to that I say…maybe? Complicating matters is the fact that I have had better bottles of Kentucky Sprit at the same price. Crap, just buy it if you haven’t already. I’ll probably pick up another at some point earning it a 4.0 rating.

Color: Medium copper-amber Nose: Nice aromatic nose of maple, molasses, and oak. Holiday spices, as well. Palate: (drank with an ice cube) Medium mouth feel — not syrupy, not watery. Cherries and more cherries on the opening sip....spicy-sweet....nice dose of butter (as in butter pound cake) hits you several sips in. The only time I've ever gotten that was from Russell's Reserve (go figure!). Spicy oakiness follows that up. Finish: Medium finish with the oak and spice elements dominating. BUT... there's also a hint of "orange creamsicle" in there, along with some slight bitterness. This might be my favorite WT I've ever had (I've had the Straight, 101, Rare Breed, and Longbranch). I bought this bottle a couple weeks ago, and backed it up yesterday on a hunch. That was a smart move. It's supposedly going to be a limited release. Never really sure WHAT that means half the time, but I didn't want to take any chances. Solid 4.5 stars! Added 3/14/25: I always want to add to my reviews when I taste something new that I didn't on the initial tasting... Sipping some of this stuff tonight, and I got a nice dose of anise/licorice. Love that.

Open 4 weeks Nose - Caramel, oak, cinnamon, toasted marshmallow, pine needle, lemon peel, medicinal cherry, and medium ethanol. Palate - Chocolate caramel candy, coffee cake, clove, orange compote, and vanilla ice cream. Finish is medium-long with sweet oak, dry caramel, butterscotch, vanilla, lemon oil, white pepper, and medium ethanol. This is definitely an elevated, refined version of Wild Turkey 101, but the real question is whether it's worth the price? Yes and no. You absolutely should not buy this heavily marked up from MSRP. For a couple of weeks I was unable to find it for $50, so I tucked my tail between my legs and bought it for $60 from my preferred local store. I think it's a very solid $50 bottle. I would not recommend anyone pay over $60. At that same store I could have instead bought Rare Breed for $50 or a Kentucky Spirit pick for $65. The major positive takeaway from this release is that Wild Turkey did not charge $300+ like they have been doing these past few years for their limited releases. Hopefully they'll keep throwing us poor people a bone once in a while, but I doubt it.

NEAT NOSE - Cinnamon; Lots of Cinnamon, Oak, Caramel, Vanilla, and Red Apples PALATE - Cinnamon is the most dominant note. There’s a huge rush of cinnamon that slowly gives way to some vanilla and light caramel. If you’re patient and take your time with this on the palate, you’d pick up some red apples. FINISH - Quite long. The finish lingers with cinnamon and oak. BUY? - Absolutely at the point. I hope you grabbed one while they were out. BUY AGAIN? - I bought a second before trying this one and I’m glad I did. I think this will open up beautifully in the bottle over time. Already, with about 10-15 minutes in the glass, the cinnamon starts to subside in intensity and the caramel comes through more noticeably and strong. The two start to balance out one another as opposed to competing for the top spot. I will definitely nurse both of my bottles.

In a blind with Wild Turkey 101 I could pick 70th without too much trouble. I’m not convinced it was worth twice the price, though. Since somehwere between 80k and 100k bottles were produced, I think the price will come down. I would not pay secondary market proces on this bottle. If you can get it retail, it may be worth buying to have on hand, especially if you have friends new to bourbon. I’ll pick up another bottle or two if goes on sale for $40 or less. For palate references, here some of my preferred tastes: Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C923 & B923, Larceny Barrel Proof C924, Knob Creek 12 Year, EH Taylor Barrel Proof, Widow Jane 10 Year, 4 Roses Small Batch Select, Old Forester 1920, and Elijah Craig Small Batch (every day budget bourbon).