Wild Turkey’s New ‘Gold Foil’ Bourbon Is an Early Contender for Best Whiskey of 2026

(Photo: Wild Turkey)

Bruce Russell has been looking forward to this bourbon release for a long time.

His grandfather, Jimmy Russell, has worked at Wild Turkey since 1954. His father, Eddie, is coming up on his 45th anniversary with the distillery. Bruce grew up surrounded by that legacy, absorbed it and eventually joined it. And now, with the Austin Nichols Archives Collection, he’s charged with honoring it.

The bottles this series draws inspiration from — Wild Turkey releases from the Austin, Nichols & Co. era that collectors hunt obsessively on the secondary market and longtime Wild Turkey loyalists rapturously discuss with hearts in their eyes — were shaped in large part by Jimmy.

The inaugural release is Gold Foil Edition, a nod to the beloved “Cheesy Gold Foil” (as named by Wild Turkey fans). The original Cheesy Gold Foil was an especially beloved batch of 12-year-old, 101-proof Turkey bourbon. Its successor dials up the age and heat with a 16-year age statement and a proof of 120. The Kentucky straight bourbon is available this May at a suggested retail price of $400. We had a chance to taste it, joined by Bruce Russell. We’ll get into the tasting notes and our review in a little bit here. Spoiler: It’s a stunner.

The Cheesy Gold Foil Legacy

The “Cheesy Gold Foil” is a cult object among bourbon enthusiasts — a Wild Turkey bottling from the 1980s and ’90s, named for the cheap gold foil capsule on the bottle, that came out of what some in the industry calls the “Glut Era.” Whiskey had fallen out of fashion, inventories swelled, and distilleries including Wild Turkey folded older barrels into standard bottlings. The result was bourbon with a depth and oak character that fans have spent decades chasing.

The Austin Nichols Archives Collection is Bruce’s attempt to reach back into that era and recreate what made those bottles special. The timing is fitting; between the decrease in drinking habits and many distilleries pausing operations due to the post-pandemic surplus of barrels, we may be sliding into another “Glut Era.”

Gold Foil Edition is Bruce’s answer for the first chapter: roughly 400 barrels from Wild Turkey’s Camp Nelson D, E, and F rickhouses — almost all from upper floors — proofed down from an eye-watering 140-plus to 120, non-chill filtered, no color added. He pitched the series concept four or five years ago but says it was first written in a notebook in 2015.

Wild Turkey was acquired by Campari in 2009 and moved distillation to a new facility in 2011. The barrels in Gold Foil Edition came from the old distillery — and they’re just about gone.

“This might be the last thing we put out where the entire blend is old distillery,” Russell said. “If this is the last thing that comes out of that old distillery, I’m really proud that it is.”

Review: An Unforgettable Bourbon

On the nose, this bourbon is gorgeous: rich, oaky, sweet and floral. Big vanilla bean up front, joined by a thick butterscotch note, followed by mocha, dried cherry and oak underneath. It’s the kind of nose you’re more than content to sit with for ages before taking a sip.

The palate lives up to the nose’s promise: Thick viscosity and a flavor profile anchored by a huge cherry cola note surrounded by raisins, tobacco and a generous helping of spice — cinnamon, gingerbread, clove, sassafras — plus licorice, oak and dark chocolate-covered walnuts.

The finish is equally spectacular: extremely long, loaded with drying tannin, cycling through cinnamon, nutmeg, dried fruit, espresso, tobacco, dark chocolate and almonds before settling into a root beer note that lingers for what feels like minutes.

It’s a show-stopping bourbon. It’s only May, but if we look back in December and this is No. 1 on our annual Best Whiskeys of the Year rankings, I won’t be surprised one bit. My sample bottle is nearly empty, and I’m quite certain I’ll be thinking about this whiskey for years to come.

For the complete tasting notes and to see what score we gave it, click here for the full review.

Will You Be Able to Find It?

Russell says this one will be more findable than recent, hyper-allocated releases.

“It’s going to be widely available, he said. “It is not going to be a Russell’s 15-sized release; it is not going to be a Generations-sized release. Tens of thousands of bottles, not three or four thousand bottles.”

At $400, it’s not cheap, but the whiskey earns it — which is something I don’t say often about bottles in this price range.

Once Russell’s comments about the old distillery stock running thin get out, this release is sure to move fast. Russell was modest about his role in guiding this release and future ones in the series, giving credit to the distillers of the liquid.

“I’m gonna be thought of, maybe, as a much better blender than I am,” he said. “I think I’m pretty good, but the whiskey that dad and the team laid down 12, 15, 18 years ago — I think in the next handful of years, you’re going to see some really special stuff.”