Wild Turkey Master's Keep 17 Year

Standard dark orange color. Smells great, tons of oak, plenty of vanilla, oak, with a a healthy dose of the spice box, vanilla, oak, caramel, maybe a hint of cherries. I know I emphasized the oak in the nose, but it’s not over-oaked, it’s actually almost perfect balance, and the vanilla character is beautiful. The taste features the spicy character much more than the nose would imply, but that oak and vanilla come though loud and clear as well, as well as more typical caramel corn notes. Mouthfeel is surprisingly nimble, the lowish proof keeps things approachable (maybe too low? But the complexity makes up for it I think). Overall this is fantastic, if a bit pricey. Definitely worth a pour at this bar, not sure the bottle price would be worth it, but the secondary price is ridiculous. Still, it’s pretty great… Beer Nerd Musings: My initial thought is that Wild Turkey’s unique attributes, like their lower entry proof, would make for interesting bourbon barrel aged beer. However, in my experience, beers aged in Wild Turkey barrels have been somewhat disappointing. Anderson Valley supposedly only uses Wild Turkey barrels for their program, but while Huge Arker was nice, it’s not really top tier stuff either (and their other entries are not quite at that level either – generally having a surprisingly low bourbon barrel character). Local favorite Neshaminy Creek has used Wild Turkey barrels a few times. I haven’t had the barleywine, but the first BBA Leon they made was a middling effort as well (then again, so was the second vintage, which used Buffalo Trace barrels – I think the base beer is the determinant factor there, or perhaps the process). Wild Turkey is definitely a component of many BBA blends, including BCBS, which are certainly great. BCBS did a sorta stealth single barrel thing a few years ago and Wild Turkey variants were well received, but I missed out on that mania. The 17 year Masters Keep barrels would be fantastic for barrel-aging beer, but to my knowledge, they have not been explicitly used for that purpose (and honestly, even if I had a bottle of the stuff, it’s to expensive to use for home brewing)…

On the nose a long triumph of candied fruit and caramel, I perceive enough alcohol even if the alcohol content is not very high. On the palate the best part: always candied fruit, but also macerated fruit and brown sugar, slightly sweetish that floods your mouth with pleasure. A bitter and not very long finish. Bourbon that I can't define complex because I don't find infinite aromas like someone does, but that has a fantastic balance: you can really drink at any time of day or night! An excellent drink that nevertheless does not reach perfection, because the finish that is everything but unforgettable. At this point I MUST try the other Master's Keeps in the range .... ___________________________________________________________________________ Al naso un lungo trionfo di frutta candita e caramello, percepisco abbastanza l’alcool anche se la gradazione non è altissima. Al palato la parte migliore: sempre frutta candita, ma anche frutta macerata e zucchero di canna, leggermente dolciastro che ti inonda la bocca di piacere. Finale un po’ amarognolo e non lunghissimo. Bourbon che non riesco a definire complesso perché non ci trovo aromi infiniti come qualcuno fa, ma che ha un bilanciamento fantastico: si può davvero bere a qualunque ora del giorno e della notte! Una eccellente bevuta che tuttavia non raggiunge la perfezione causa finale non indimenticabile. A questo punto DEVO provare gli altri Master’s Keep della gamma....

Nose: Someone crafted a cherry and apple pie combination... and I am not even mad about it. Definitely an oak presence, some vanilla, Carmel, almond, hardly any astringency at all. Palate: more red fruits come through, coats the mouth very well, oak is forward. You can tell this has been in a barrel a long time. A slightly oily consistency, with an almost heavy cream like feel. Finish: beautiful for a bottled in bond. A true Kentucky hug. That lasts and lasts. I am new to bourbon and I admit that my palate is young and I need some experience of tasting other fine bourbons that are hard to find, but to this day this is hands down the best bourbon I have ever had. I would give this a 5 out of 5, but my hope is that there is something out there that can edge it out.

Neat. Neck pour. Incredible nose. Oak and vanilla. Cream and berries. Cherries. Hint of pepper. Cinnamon. I could spend an hour just sniffing this. Thicker on the palate than I was expecting at 86 proof. Vanilla and cinnamon all of the tongue. Hits you with spiciness and then mirrors all the flavors from the nose. Oak. Berries and cream. Cherry. It is so oily (the legs are the thickest I have seen) that it just coats all of the mouth and throat. Because of this the flavors actually magnified on the finish and linger for a long long time. This is a definitive Wild Turkey experience. Holy crap.

Heavy orange on the nose and initial palette, then a flood of smokiness... a bitter smoke? A sharp smoke? I enjoy a peaty scotch but the smoke here was a little unsettling and off-putting at first. Not sure what I think about it, as it seems to mask much of the other flavors. Wanted to like this one way more than I did. Definitely not bad, but maybe just a little too “stale” or flat for my taste. Which I guess is in line for what I’ve heard with some of the longer aged bourbons.

Definitely my least favorite Master’s Keep release to date. The nose is somewhat dry with a bold aroma of Oak, nutmeg & all spice. Oak is present again on the palette along with light hints of caramel & orange peel. The proof is low which leaves the mouthfeel a bit thin and the finish a bit brief. This is good don’t get me wrong, it’s just me least favorite MK.