Review: Wild Turkey Master’s Keep One
Six years in to the Master’s Keep series we have the arrival of Master’s Keep One, a (sorta) complex blend of bourbons designed to celebrate the melding of Jimmy Russell and Eddie Russell’s two distinct styles into a single spirit.
Master’s Keep One [combines] Jimmy’s love of mid-aged bourbons (8 to 10 years) with Eddie’s passion for complex characteristics that come with bourbons aged longer. Finding harmony in balance, the barrels used in this expression serve as an ode to Jimmy’s preference for a bolder bourbon mingled with Eddie’s precisely-picked 14-year-old whiskey. Both whiskeys come together for a second maturation using new oak barrels specially toasted and charred in one of Eddie’s favorite timber rickhouses – Tyrone G.
So: Old whiskey blended with slightly less old whiskey. Let’s give it a whirl!
Though it’s surprisingly gentle on the nose, there’s plenty of Wild Turkey DNA throughout this whiskey: lots of vanilla, some peanut shell, barrel char, and spicy cloves. Perhaps a hint of orange peel as it develops in the glass. On the palate, no surprises emerge given the lead-up: Soothing and heavy with vanilla notes, cinnamon and cardamom spice, a slow build-up of barrel char, and notes of peanut brittle as the finish emerges. Understated with brown sugar sweetness, caramel sauce, and a lingering, lightly spiced conclusion, the finished product will offend precisely no one: It’s very pleasant if somewhat basic, a solid bourbon that you’d be perfectly happy passing around on poker night and not have to think too much about. I have no complaints about it — but I’m not entirely sure I’ll remember much else about it come the morning.
101 proof. Reviewed: Batch #1.
B+ / $175
Wild Turkey Master's Keep One
$175
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