Peace … It seems like a guilty pleasure. How fortunate so many of us are to have it. My thoughts go out to those who are suffering – those who have lost and those without the comfort of knowing their family and friends are safe. As night falls here in South Carolina, I can only imagine the anguish hundreds of miles away. It’s not often I find myself at a loss for words, but tonight I can only stare at my glass and think. By the time we get to a certain price point, the smaller distilleries are no longer able to compete with the big boys on the technical side of how we most often assess value, which is age statements and proof points. If they want to stay in the running, they have to do something more unique to transform that whiskey, and one of the options to do so is the newly popular process of secondary finishing in a freshly charred or toasted barrel. There are several whiskeys like this that have hit the market, but the “double oaked” quality plays particularly well in this upgraded version of Sagamore Spirit’s flagship rye, which is a blend of self-distilled Maryland spirit and MGP rye. However, the extra aging time in a second barrel really works some magic on this spirit, and what comes out is quite a bit different from what went in. It’s a reinvention of the MGP-type profile that you really have to taste for yourself, coming from a distillery that specializes in rye. As we wrote previously: Palate: The first sip gives off a sweet, herbaceous quality of freshly cut grass, rye spice, and vanilla. As it develops more, flavors of toasted sweet oak, evergreen pine, leafy greens, and caramel show up. The proof and rye spice give a warm mouthfeel – perfect for brisk winter nights. The heat isn’t overpowering, with the 101 proof being perfect for allowing the flavors to develop in the mouth. Wild Turkey 101 Rye is more spice forward than other barely legal ryes, leading with a stronger rye influence than the mashbill would have you to believe. The mouthfeel is pretty good, with a creamy, yet punchy quality that is no doubt aided by the 101 proof. From mass-produced products like 101 to highly limited releases like Master's Keep, you could make the argument that Wild Turkey is the only major American whiskey maker whose lineup hasn't been compromised by the Bourbon Boom. Its products are available widely at or near their suggested retail price, and are generally ignored by rare whiskey hunting communities that have driven many a bottle to extinction. This makes Wild Turkey whiskey — weighed by price, age, proof — one of the best brands for value in the whiskey world. I was prepared to write off Wild Turkey rye entirely until the Rare Breed. While it’s not my favorite rye by a long shot, it at least convincingly justifies the consideration of this grain as more than a component of the Wild Turkey bourbon mash bill. Given the preponderance of evidence, I’m not sure I’ll be buying another Wild Turkey rye for a while… but if I do, it will definitely be Rare Breed Rye.

Wild Turkey Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey | House of Malt

Bourbon Mash: though it's never been confirmed by the brand, it's widely understood all its bourbon whiskey products start with a mash of 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley (Wild Turkey 101, Russell's Reserve, Longbranch, Wild Turkey Master's Keep, etc.).On the nose: Sweet and delicate. Lemon meringue pie, freshly cut spring flowers, whipped cream, and a very subtle hint of orange rind. I’m getting some more characteristic rye scents of aloe vera and stainless steel here, but mostly this is a light and airy presentation of aromas. There’s a noticeable creamy sweetness from the corn component of the mash bill.

rye whiskey brands to drink in 2022 | The Independent Best rye whiskey brands to drink in 2022 | The Independent

The most rye-like of the “ryes” from Wild Turkey. Presenting this at barrel strength allows the whiskey to maintain some of the more forceful aromas and flavors that I normally associate with rye. It’s not a world-beater, especially for the price, but it has at least salvaged the category of Wild Turkey rye for me. Score 5/10 Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. If there’s one contentious topic that whiskey geeks love to discuss, it’s value in whiskey. And as we wrote in our piece on the best pure values in the bourbon world today, value itself is always something of an indefinable concept:

Where Wild Turkey bourbon features more rye in the mash than is industry standard, its rye features less. The estimated rye content in the mash sits at 52 percent, just 1 percent more than is legally required to be called rye whiskey. This means that, unlike many of today's popular Indiana-style ryes (which are made from mashes carrying 90-plus percent rye), it drinks a whole lot more like bourbon than drinkers expect. Just like its mainline bourbons, Wild Turkey splits its large batch rye into an 81 and 101 proof offering, the latter only available in 1-liter format, and at a moderate price hike. Expect Wild Turkey's signature bite, but don't assume its status as a rye whiskey means you'll need a glass of milk handy to deal with the heat. Second, based on Wild Turkey 101 Rye’s estimated maturation, the whiskey was produced at the new distillery (c. 2011). While this isn’t a unique characteristic for 2021 (the new distillate has likely played a significant role since 2017), it’s fascinating to study the rye profile’s progression annually. After all, “four to six” years is a little closer to new make than 101 Rye’s bourbon counterpart’s “six to eight” years. Should one venture an armchair judgment of Wild Turkey’s new state-of-the-art distillery, 101 Rye is a great place to start deliberating. Here then, are our thoughts on the best current values when it comes to rye whiskey, split into two price tiers. Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel Rye has a few things going for it. First off, you’ve got the implicit promise that any given single barrel here is the apple of master distiller Eddie Russell’s eye, and this is a guy who knows his rye whiskey. You also have an attractive proof point that, while not as high as the likes of Pikesville or the Knob Creek, is still fairly close to barrel proof for Wild Turkey, which uses a lower barrel entry proof for maximum flavor. Interestingly, this brand doesn’t feature an explicit age statement, that not being something Wild Turkey usually cares to use as a defining aspect of its products, but it can be assumed that the liquid here is typically a year or two older than the rye whiskey in the 90 proof Russell’s Reserve 6 Year Rye—also a great value, by the way.

Rare Breed: barrel proof bourbon whiskey | Wild Turkey Rare Breed: barrel proof bourbon whiskey | Wild Turkey

As stated earlier this year, I made it a goal to review each of Wild Turkey’s core expressions by the end of 2021. When I saw this liter of Wild Turkey 101 Rye at my local bottle shop, a liter bottle sporting the new “embossed Turkey” design, I knew it was time. It’s also December, so let’s just call that perfect timing. An Ode to the Horniest Sitcom Parents, the Belchers and the Wilkersons By Clare Martin April 11, 2023 | 10:40am On the nose: This smells like a very mature grain whisky, with an overall sweet and buttery aroma. There’s a sugary and spicy scent of apple cider, as well as the hallmark rye whiskey note of freshly cut aloe vera leaves. There’s a hint of milk chocolate, some crushed spearmint leaves, and a wisp of dried firewood swirling around the periphery. Leaving this bottle open for a while results in a more Christmas-y nose, with a coniferous perfume. This is a younger NAS rye, with a lower proof point, so one might initially wonder about its position on a list of “value” ryes, but we shouldn’t overlook that this is one of only a handful of regularly available single barrel ryes out there in the marketplace. For those who are interested in the delicate variations offered by single barrel selection, that makes Michter’s an interesting option—as does its easygoing but surprisingly complex flavor profile of earthy, fruity and spicy notes. You get some caramel candies, citrus and rye spice, but also a more savory tobacco and wood note that belies the spirit’s young age and relatively low proof point. At this proof point, it’s especially well suited to neat drinking, no ice required. You certainly have to respect what the company has achieved to date, being able now to stand up alongside some of the biggest names in the field. This is a slight improvement over the 101, in the sense that there are no off aromas or flavors. The nose held promise, but they palate again underwhelmed. This combination of rye and corn doesn’t seem to be working for me, as I’m not getting any of the notes that I love from Wild Turkey bourbon, and yet the rye is not allowed to stand on its own. Score 4/10The Best Sitcoms on Netflix Right Now (October 2023) By Garrett Martin and Paste Staff October 20, 2023 | 12:00pm verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ It’s that “most wonderful time of the year” again. So, what am I reaching for this holiday season? You guessed it – Wild Turkey 101 Rye. A Love Letter to I’m Sorry and a Tribute to Funny Moms in 3 Bits By Annie Berke September 6, 2023 | 11:48am

Wild Turkey 101 : The Whisky Exchange Wild Turkey 101 : The Whisky Exchange

Delivery is available in: AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MD, ME, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NH, NV, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TX, VA, WA, WI, WV, WY Better (in places) but also worse than the Russell’s Reserve 6 Year Old, this is the most complex of the bunch thus far. Again, the promise of the nose was left unfulfilled in the mouth, as this performed an inexplicable disappearing act right in the middle of what should have been the main event. The “vanilla” note that emerged over time also demanded that this be improved by virtue of being incorporated as a Manhattan component, which is what happened to the remainder of my bottle. That function can be fulfilled with whiskey at a fraction of this price, hence my score below the middle of the range. Score 4/10Taste: “fizzy” lemon-lime soda, sugar cookie, herbal spice, clove chewing gum, tea, waves of nutmeg & faint licorice This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services. Finish: Medium finish with heavy wood notes that lead to a spicy drying finish. Definitely satisfying but could be made more interesting with a touch more sweetness. Unlike competitors Buffalo Trace Distillery, Heaven Hill, Brown-Forman and so on, Wild Turkey does not experiment (with publicly available product, anyway) with mashbill. Despite bottling more than 20 expressions, there are only two grain ratios that dictate the foundation of all Wild Turkey whiskey — one for bourbon, one for rye. And with that, it’s time to dive in and discover what 2021’s Wild Turkey 101 Rye has to offer. I have little doubt it’ll fall outside of the profile maintained rather steadily over the last four years. But then, stranger things have happened.