Wild Turkey
Wild Turkey
60.4%
NAS
Distilled by Wild Turkey and composed of barrels picked by Bruce, Eddie and Jimmy Russell, Wild Turkey Generations is the first release to bear all three signatures of the iconic Russell family. After all, the Russells are the backbone of the Wild Turkey brand. It only makes sense that with Bruce now helming parts of the distillery, the brand should honor all three of their namesake distillers, especially while all three generations are still active in the world of whiskey. The whiskey itself is a blend of 9-, 12-, 14 and 15-year bourbons. It's bottled at barrel proof and retails for $450. That's noticeably steeper than all previous WT expressions. Worth the coin? Let's dig in and find out. Price not factored into review score.
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Bright and caramel-driven, expressively fruity and full of bright fruit notes. Apple butter, baked pear, a hint of orange peel and praline drift across the nose. A pop of ethanol joins the fruit, laced with butterscotch and toffee.
Moderate viscosity on the palate with monster heat. This is easily the hottest Wild Turkey product I've tasted, and the ethanol refuses to hide behind the flavor. Notes of crème brûlée, toffee, baking spice and brown sugar rise first. There's a bit of a rye spice kick in here too, spicy, herbal pepper, clove, faint mint, some copper-penny type of notes. The heavy baking spicy and nougat return though after a moment.
Long finish that has developed most over the time this bottle has been open. Heady fruits, apples and pears remain. Cracked pepper, candied ginger, peach rings, toffee and a final wallop of ethanol smacks you before the pour finishes its run.
This is easily the most unique product I've had from the Russells. After all, why shouldn't it be? All three generations working on a single product is a novelty, and it's a damn cool one. That said, even three cooks can be one too many in the kitchen, and its clear from the pleasant components of this whiskey that mostly fit together. It's very good, and better composition and integration of the barrels chosen could have taken this to incredible, possibly even perfect. It's easy to enjoy this for the incredible story behind this bottle, but if your sole goal is to enjoy incredible whiskey, there are other Russell releases that take that task head on far better.
85
