Wild Turkey Master's Keep Decades - Review
Age: 10-20 years (blend, no percentages disclosed)
Barrel type: Standard bourbon (charred fresh oak)
Region: Kentucky
ABV: 52%
Price: $150
Additional details: non-chill filtered, natural color
Our local bar definitely pulled a switcheroo with us on this dram. On one night, I enjoyed a dram of this at $13, which seems like an incredible price for such a high-end expression. It was too good to be true. The next week, the exact same drink showed up on my tab: $40! That one hurt the wallet. On the plus side, my average price wasn't too terrible, and now I get to review this special edition from one of the more storied bourbon distilleries in Kentucky.
Appearance: The Master's Keep line has one of the coolest bottles, if not the coolest bottle, in bourbon, with a massive embossed turkey covering two of the four sides. The whiskey itself is a chestnut brown color that speaks to its age and the quality of the cask selection done to produce this premium expression.
Nose: I tend to prefer cask-strength bourbons for the intensity and variety of flavors that they can deliver. Among non-cask-strength bourbons, however, the best and most complex nose that I've experienced was the virtuoso performance of Parker's Heritage Promise of Hope. This bottle doesn't quite reach that level, but it is damn close. It is so deep, rich, and sweet, I could almost be fully satisfied just scenting this whiskey. The dominant notes are vanilla, caramel, coconut, butterscotch, and maple, so the Russells are doing a great job picking out dessert flavors for this expression. It does not have much fruit, much nuttiness, or much wood, but somehow it does not feel out of balance or lacking in complexity because of the sheer variety of variations on the sweet flavors that it encompasses.
Palate: The palate's early notes are maple brittle, a great combination of sweet syrup and just the slightest bit of saltiness that adds a necessary savory edge to the palate. Compared to the sweet nose, the palate reveals a wider range of notes, with some sharp pepper and aromatic wood, although dessert wins out again in the end as Decades settles in as a decadent fudge taste-alike.
Finish: Smoky and richly oaked, which is a pleasant surprise! I don't consider many, really almost any, bourbons to feature "smoke" as a flavor, but this one comes the closest. Over time and after a few sips, more rye spice emerges, along with a flavor of multi-grains or poppy seeds that add an organic, raw-food element to the end. This is the greatest accomplishment of this whiskey, which is the progression or transformation from a sweet tooth's dream to a nuanced whiskey on the palate, followed by its conclusion with a mature, robust, assertive finish.
Value for Money and Final Impressions: Well, I feel like I'm getting a hell of a lot of value for money as long as the bar is pricing this at $13 a dram. That's the price of a bog-standard "craft" cocktail or even an Old Fashioned at a lot of bars in New York, DC, Miami, etc. That being said, it would be a heavy lift to pay $150 for a bottle, which might break my personal record for a single bottle of whiskey. To Wild Turkey's credit, I think it may be worth it.
The impressive part of this bourbon is that it does not need to be barrel proof to hit such high notes. Of course, 52% ABV is no joke, and goes a long way toward explaining how the Russells crammed so much flavor into each sip.
Rating: A