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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

The Last Flight of the Wild Turkey: 101 Rye


This is the second in a series of joint reviews I'm doing with Jason at Sour Mash Manifesto and Tim at Scotch & Ice Cream. Our first review, as you may recall, was of the roundly panned Rebel Yell Bourbon. Today we hope to up the ante with Wild Turkey 101 Rye.

For years, Wild Turkey 101 has been a reliable, workhorse rye: cheap, available, good for cocktails or sipping neat. Recently Campari owned Wild Turkey announced that it would bring out a new 81 proof rye, and that the release of this new rye would result in shortages of 101, which makes sense since they only have so much rye and presumably they are using the same batches for the new 81. Sources seem to differ as to whether 101 will go away entirely or will be back once rye stocks are replenished.

I haven't tried good old Wild Turkey 101 Rye in a while, so consider this a goodbye (for now) tribute.

Wild Turkey 101 Rye, 50.5% abv ($20 if you can find it).

The 101 picks right up with a nice, spicy rye nose. The nose is so full of rye spice that it's much closer to LDI or one of the Canadian straight ryes than your typical 51% Kentucky rye. Think pine, brine and the kitchen spice cabinet (you know, that blend of all the spices in there). The palate doesn't disappoint with its rye strength either. It's less sweet than the versions I recall from years past but full of punch. It starts with a big rye hit with a touch of sweetness, gets a bit soapy mid way through and then trails off into a hot rye finish. Water brings out some bitter notes, so I say leave it out.

There's not much complex about this rye but it's got everything you need for a general rye whiskey, does wonders in cocktails and there are few better deals around. Let's hope it spreads its wings again soon.



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11 comments:

  1. Josh FeldmanApril 3, 2012 at 9:02 AM

    Excellent depiction of the WT101 rye flavor profe. I'm a huge fan of the WT line and the Russell family's distilling work. A rye that they do which is superb for drinking neat is Russell Reserve Rye 6. I gave it five stars. Have you tried it?

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  2. AnonymousApril 3, 2012 at 11:09 AM

    "It's less sweet than the versions I recall from years past..." Couldn't agree more, Sku. Several years ago this and Russell's Reserve Rye both seemed a touch sweeter.

    I've noticed a few brick-n-mortar retailers currently pricing this in the low $30 range, and a few online retailers are laughably at $100 per bottle. Shortage/outage or not, it's soo not worth any of those prices.

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  3. skuApril 3, 2012 at 11:38 AM

    Josh, I reviewed Russell's Rye back when it first came out. My thoughts then was that it was nice enough but a bit soft for my taste. Overall, I prefer the 101.

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  4. sam kApril 3, 2012 at 3:54 PM

    It's my go-to rye here in PA, where it sells for $20, $18 when it would go on sale.

    For years it was distilled at Michter's in Schaefferstown and in Maryland before that. I guess they found it easier to source it elsewhere back then than to distill in small quantities.

    Now that the shortage has arrived, I've been buying up a few bottles at a time when I can find them here.,,I anticipate that when it returns in the 101 format, it will no longer be at $20. Just sayin'...

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  5. skuApril 3, 2012 at 4:08 PM

    Sam, thanks for your comment. You always add such interesting information. I had no idea it was previously distilled at Michter's. Was that before the WT distillery was built?

    And yes, shortage + new bottle design almost certainly means higher prices. So it goes.

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  6. sam kApril 3, 2012 at 5:29 PM

    No, this was pretty much throughout the 80s. I drank more than a few of 'em. The bottle had a green label then, and it read "Distilled in Pennsylvania." I managed to keep an empty one for my collection. Dick Stoll of Michter's confirmed this for me on my last visit there in 1989.

    I've seen the Maryland version (empty) on eBay, but only once or twice in more than ten years. It has yet another color label (tan?), and it is definitely older than the PA version.

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  7. sam kApril 3, 2012 at 5:37 PM

    Oh yeah, I guess my point here is that WT didn't distill their own rye (or at least sourced a part of it elsewhere) for many years, if not decades.

    Eventually it all became Kentucky-distilled by necessity as the traditional rye whiskey states dried up..

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  8. Jason PyleApril 3, 2012 at 6:09 PM

    Fun review Sku. Lots of value to be had here and little not to like. Cheers!

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  9. Tim ReadApril 3, 2012 at 8:28 PM

    Not a bad whiskey at all. Honestly better than a lot of ryes I've had lately. I'm really happy to find this one being nicely grounded compared to a lot of green, piney, and woody ryes of late.

    This going away is a shame, and hopefully they bring it back at a reasonable price in the future.

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  10. Josh FeldmanApril 4, 2012 at 9:15 AM

    I just scored a bottle. $26 at a small liquor store near the train station in Montclair, NJ. I'll have to finish some of my many open bottles before i crack it. Thanks for the excellent write up.

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  11. WTKJune 22, 2012 at 7:10 PM

    Here we are two months after the reviews were published and today I found a large supply of WT 101 at Total Wine and More, Redondo Beach, CA. It's the new style labeling with green stripe. Couldn't wait to try it and found it just as reviewed. A real nice spicy sipper with a great nose. At $20, what a bargain!

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