Tasting notes

nose

caramel and brown sugar with vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and a little oak

palate

caramel, honey and vanilla over brown sugar and treacle, with orange, wood and a mineral streak

finish

short to medium; rye spice and cinnamon come first, then molasses, tobacco and dried fruit hang on as the spice softens, leaving soft oak

Mash bill

75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley. It shares its grain recipe with Wild Turkey 101 and Rare Breed, a rye-forward bourbon mash that puts cinnamon and pepper alongside the corn's caramel sweetness. What sets this bottle apart is the lower bottling strength, not the grain.

Why it's craft

This is Wild Turkey's lower-strength straight bourbon, first released in 2011, and the producer suggests it for mixed drinks such as a Kentucky Mule. It comes from the same Lawrenceburg stills, grain recipe and deep-char barrels as the rest of the range, and Wild Turkey ages its bourbon at least five years. The distillery traces its site to the Ripy brothers in 1869 and is owned by Campari Group.