Wild Turkey Rare Breed & Rye 101 Reviews

Hi everyone,

Wasn’t sure I’d get a review out today. Got stranded in Germany when my flight was cancelled, but managed to shlep across into France and now England.

I’m not the biggest fan of the turkey. I’m not going to make a joke about it being too dry, actually I just find it’s a little too herbal for my liking. But of course, I have to keep challenging myself and trying new ones, particularly if I want to get to 50 American Whiskey’s. So I got stuck in and tried these two.

The Rare Breed I’ve always wanted to try anyway because it’s in Ian Buxton’s 101 whiskies to try before you die, something I’ve been doing my best to complete (I’m getting there).

Wild Turkey Rare Breed 56.4%

Colour: Bronze

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Quite light but classic WT from what I remember. Ethereal, waxy, like sealing wax, slight oak, herbal, natural honey.

Taste: Intense here, spice, herbal, ginger and clove, a little chilli, dry oak.

Finish: Medium length. Oaky, dry, some herbal notes. Mint.

A perfectly nice Bourbon, but nothing standout from the usual 101.

73/100

Wild Turkey 101 Rye 50.5%

Colour: Light Bronze

Body: Medium

Nose: Again herbal and sealing wax, but added spice here. Lots of cardamom, vanilla pod, tyme and rosemary, some clove.

Taste: Intense, some fruit at first, then spice and herbs, cardamom, ginger, black pepper, then lots of dry oak.

Finish: Medium length. Caramel and some orange. Spices left over.

I slightly prefer this to the Rare Breed, it’s just a little bit more complex.

74/100

Thanks for reading!

American Reviews #41-#42

Whisky Network Reviews #598-#599

Network Average: 74.6

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

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