American Whiskey Review #100: Wild Turkey Kentucky Legend (1992 Bottling)

Distillery: Wild Turkey.

Region: Kentucky.

Age: NAS. Bottled in 1992.

ABV: 50.5%.

Price: Sample courtesy of /u/iDriveAVolvo.

Color: 1.6, Mahogany/Henna Notes.

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Nose: (according to the wife) It’s really dessert-y. Lots and lots of caramel followed by a chocolate eclair. You get the vanilla custard, a bit of the pastry, and a lot of the chocolate.

Palate: It’s quite nutty at first. Almond paste is the main note I get along with a hint of vanilla. A drop of water livens it up really nicely. It gets much sweeter with sweet corn coming through nice and strong. A dusting of rye spices comes through as well along with notes of pecan pie. The nuttiness from before remains joined by corn syrup and sugar.

Finish: Starts off medium in length and gets longer as you go. Corn whisky and almonds are what you get first. As you have more, a creamy note starts to linger and linger.

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Conclusion: With Thanksgiving just around the corner and a turkey defrosting in the fridge, my mind naturally went to wanting some Wild Turkey. Perhaps I was dreaming too much of after dinner desserts but this slightly dusty bottling really helped stave off those cravings for a couple more days. The nose is sweet and teases a bit of a dessert treat. The palate starts a touch closed off, but nothing a drop of water can’t fix. The notes of pecan pie that come out are quite nice and make for really easy drinking. The lingering creaminess tin the finish just helps sell the dessert dram that this is. The only thing I’m missing is a touch of cherry, which I associate with Wild Turkey quite heavily, but even without it this is quite tasty.

Final Score: 81.

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American Whiskey Review #100, Bourbon Review #73, Whisky Network Review #483

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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.