Wild Turkey saves some of its most special whiskey for its high-end annual Master’s Keep release, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that liquid is the oldest, rarest, or most uniquely cask-finished in the distillery’s warehouses. In the case of the latest edition, called Triumph, that’s a very good thing: This 10-year-old rye is not flashy, it’s just delicious. At a decade old, this is the oldest age-statement rye whiskey ever released by Wild Turkey (there is whiskey up to 12 years old included in the blend), although the distillery has released bourbon at that age and older.
This is only the second rye to be included in the Master’s Keep series, which launched in 2015, the first being 2019’s Cornerstone (a blend of nine- to 11-year-old rye). Could a reason for that be that legendary Wild Turkey master distiller Jimmy Russell is just not a big fan of rye? His son, master distiller Eddie Russell who is the force behind Master’s Keep, admits as much. “He’ll taste it in the lab, but to this day he’ll never, ever order rye,” Eddie said on a recent Zoom call.
“People ask, what about in his cocktails? Well, Jimmy’s cocktail is usually just an ice cube.” But this whiskey series is Eddie’s baby, a chance to spread his whiskey wings beyond the core lineup, if you will, and listen to the advice of his son, associate blender Bruce Russell, who is on the record as being a fervent rye whiskey fan. Wild Turkey has been making rye for decades, despite any mi.
