American Whiskey Review #77 & 78: Gobble of Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirits (2009 & 2010)
Distillery: Wild Turkey
Region: Kentucky
American Whiskey Review #77: Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit (2009)
Age: NAS
ABV: 50.5%
Color: 1.5, Auburn/Polished Mahogany.
Nose: It’s really refreshing with lots of aromatics. Mint, menthol, and fir make an appearance joined by licorice. Nice and cooling.
Palate: It is a tad hot and requires watering down. With some water, it’s absolutely chock full of aromatics. The mint, menthol, and licorice from the nose are all there and there’s quite a lot of it. They’re joined by some spiced cherries and some brown sugar cookies.
Finish: Medium in length. The menthol sticks around along with the brown sugar cookies.
Conclusion: The nose on this was nothing like I’d expected, it’s quite unlike any bourbon I’ve smelled with all of those cooling notes all over the place. With some water, it’s quite tasty with some spiced cherry and cookies joining those notes of mint and menthol. I quite like it, it’s different but quite tasty and leaves you wanting for a bit of more. Would I buy a bottle of this? Definitely.
Final Score: 81.
American Whiskey Review #78: Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit (2010)
Age: NAS
ABV: 50.5%
Color: 1.5, Auburn/Polished Mahogany.
Nose: Main note here is oak, lots of it. There’s a bit of cinnamon, vanilla, and caramel as well.
Palate: Like the 2009 version, it also requires watering down. With water, it gets to have a bit of a chalky taste which is strange. Cinnamon is the main note with a bit of caramel sitting alongside it. Once the edge has been taken off, it’s pleasantly warm on the tongue but there’s not a whole lot going on here in the way of flavor.
Finish: Fairly short. Just bits of cinnamon.
Conclusion: While this isn’t a bad whisky, there really isn’t anything memorable or stand out about it. It’s about as generic of a bourbon as you can get with notes only of oak, cinnamon, caramel, and vanilla. There’s a bit of something chalky as well, which is quite strange and I’m not sure what exactly went on there. It’s drinkable and tasty enough but even as I type up this review a day after having this, it’s already fading from memory given how much it lacked any impact. Would I buy a bottle of this? Skip it and go for the Wild Turkey 101.
Final Score: 72.
Final Thoughts: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I started off the holiday with a review of the Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Cornerstone Rye yesterday. Today, I have two different bottlings of Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit from 2009 and 2010. While they’re only a year apart in release date, they are world’s apart in flavor. One is the most aromatic and one of the most memorable bourbon’s I’ve had. The other is perhaps as generic as generic could be. Perhaps I would’ve enjoyed it better if I hadn’t had it right after it’s older brother, but the 2010 version was quite a disappointment. Thankfully, the 2009 one is interesting enough for both of them. In an unprecedented year, I hope that everyone and their loved ones will find a way to safely celebrate this holiday!
American Whiskey Review #77 & 78, Bourbon Review #61 & 62, Whisky Network Review #341 & 342
Scoring Legend:
- 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
- 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
- 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
- 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
- 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
- 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
- 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
- Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.
Scotch & Sheen 
