Background

First off, I need to shout out the immortal Wild Turkey historian, David Jennings of rarebreed101.com, for the indispensable Wild Turkey Timeline. I have poor impulse control I’ll admit, and when faced with the mystery box that was this ceramic decanter I needed to know what was inside. While decanting it was a bit of an adventure, now we can do a direct side by side by side comparison of some different Wild Turkey 101 offerings. We have the modern iteration (from 2021), a 2010 Austin Nichols bottling, and the 8 year 101 juice from this decanter. Let’s take a look at a few of the differences between these:

• 1984 8 Year 101: First and foremost, the age statement. In 1992, Wild Turkey dropped the 8 year age statement from the US 101 bottling. There also isnt a ton of product stratification at this time. There’s the 12 Year Beyond Duplication offering and (as far as I could find) that’s about it. Meaning there’s ALOT of good juice in this blend. The barrel entry proof for Wild Turkey at this time is also 107, which brings us to…

• 2010 101: Ok, at this point we’re approaching the modern product. Gone is the 8 year age, and you have a bunch of different offerings on the market including Rare Breed, Kentucky Spirit, and Russell’s Reserve (presumably pulling some decent juice from 101). Now, barrel entry proof changed from 107 to 110 in 2004, and 110 to 115 in 2006. Wild Turkey claims 101 is 6-8 years on average even without the age statement… so it seems safe to assume this is 110 barrel entry proof juice and likely some of the 107 stuff as well.

• 2021 101: The modern product! Too many (awesome) Wild Turkey products to count, Russell’s Reserve is firmly established as a pretty obtainable premium line. Barrel entry proof of 115 and NAS (though Wild Turkey’s website still notes the product is 6-8 years) 

Now let’s compare them! We’re going to start modern and work our way back in time.

2021 Wild Turkey 101 (NAS, 101 Proof)

Nose: Honey, cinnamon sugar, caramel chews, occasional hints of cherry. Damn does Wild Turkey always smell good.

Palate: Cinnamon and nutmeg, vanilla, caramel, occasional orange and cherry and a nice dose of oak.

Finish: Oak, and… root beer? It’s pretty herbal honestly, maybe that’s what I’m conflating with root beer. A little short compared to the next two.

5.5/10

Overall: Yup, good whiskey! More than once I looked down while writing this to find I finished a glass without noticing it. I try to avoid price/cost in my reviews, because everything is relative, but when talking about Wild Turkey 101 it’s hard to be floored at the cost proposition here. Good whiskey at a price so good broke college kids can rip shots of it and whiskey nerds can sip and appreciate it.

2010 Wild Turkey 101 (NAS, 101 Proof)

Nose: There’s a darker, molasses-esque note underpinning this that really stands out in comparison to the 2021. The spices are mellower, still getting honey and caramel alongside an herbal note.

Palate: Skews a little more towards the caramel vanilla spectrum, big time cola, hints of cherries and cinnamon, a consistent oakiness.

Finish: Decently longer than the modern offering. Pretty oak forward! Demerara sugar, those dried and spiced cocktail oranges.

6.5/10

Overall: I actually wasnt expecting this to be too much of a step up… but side by side it is. It’s simply more flavorful. While not apparent in the image, it is clearly darker, and the finish just really brings it home.

1984 Wild Turkey 8 Year 101 Ceramic Decanter (8 Years, 101 Proof)

Nose: LOL one of these things is not like the other… Leather, pipe tobacco, BIG floral/herbal notes. Molasses, but the volume is up to 11 compared to the 2010.

Palate: Oily! Herbal again, cherry, LEATHER AND OAK. Tobacco again, citrus, the pure cola syrup they feed into the fountain machines.

Finish: Crazy long, caramelly, leather again, herbaceous. Interestingly, not a ton of oak, just a variety of the flavors from the palate stick around an incomparably long amount of time.

9/10

Overall: Pshhhh man, this is wild. It’s just a borderline overpowering amount of flavor. I dont know that blind I would stand any chance of identifying this as coming from the same distillery as the last two. I mean obviously a ton has changed between then and now, but this is some knockout juice.

Last but not least, ranking scale and some examples:

1 | Disgusting: Town Branch Single Barrel Reserve

2 | Poor: Black Maple Hill Oregon Straight Bourbon Whiskey

3 | Bad: Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel

4 | Sub-par: Blue Run High Rye Bourbon

5 | Good: Four Roses Small Batch Select

6 | Very Good: E.H. Taylor Straight Rye

7 | Great: Wilderness Trail 8 Year BiB

8 | Excellent: Stagg Jr Batch 17

9 | Incredible: A Smith Bowman Cask Strength (Batch 1)

10 | Perfect: George T Stagg 2020