This the second review in a five part verticalish series on Wild Turkey bourbon comparing 5 of their relatively recent releases and one dusty against each other and my favorite Wild Turkey juice of all time: Moonshine Grill’s Russell’s Reserve pick.
We’re moving up from Wild Turkey 101 to Rare Breed.
Wild Turkey Rare Breed
Age: NAS
Abv: 116.8 proof
Color: A medium amber
Price: $42.99
Laser Code: LL/GH020357
Neat
Nose: Warm, sweet and inviting with brown sugar, vanilla and baking spice notes.
Taste: Sweet brown sugar and vanilla notes are balanced against warm baking spice and rye. Decent mouthfeel but a little thinner than I expected from the proof.
Finish: Long dry finish with lingering baking spice notes.
Conclusion
Somehow this was both higher proof, more flavorful and less harsh than the 101 which made it an excellent step up in quality though it comes with a similar step up in price. The Rare Breed didn’t quite measure up the the Moonshine “Cheesy Gold Foil” which had all the same brown sugar and warm spicy goodness but also had a very nice oak note bringing welcome additional complexity. While this dram wasn’t my favorite of the bunch it certainly wins when you factor in price and availability.
Overall this is great bourbon at a good price and is a great into to barrel proof bourbons for folks looking to get into them. All in all this is a whiskey that does everything right but doesn’t do something special to put it over into the 9 or 10 range for me.
2 Stars - Very good whiskey: I would want to have a bottle
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