WILD TURKEY 101 8 YEAR
Japanese Export (bottled January 9, 2023)MASH BILL – 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% barley
PROOF – 101
AGE – 8 years
DISTILLERY – Wild Turkey
PRICE – $20 (¥2980) for a 700ml bottle purchased in Japan
WORTH BUYING? – Pfft! Of course!
Uncorked and tasted in The Year of No Buying (The what? 🔗 here.)
I bought this bottle in a small liquor store during a recent trip to Japan. I’d been in search of its older cousin, Wild Turkey 101 Distiller’s Reserve 12 Year, also a Japanese export. But I seemed to be in Tokyo during a dry spell for that release. Not a single shop I visited had it. (I did eventually find a bottle in Kyoto!)
But nearly every Tokyo and Kyoto liquor store I stepped into had at least a couple bottles of the 8 Year on hand, priced lower on average than the standard non-age-stated US Wild Turkey 101 release.
The standard US Wild Turkey 101 is a good ol’ dependable, generally known to be a blend of 6 to 8 year bourbons on average. From year to year batches might subtly emphasize this over that aspect of the Wild Turkey flavor profile. But Wild Turkey 101 always works.
In terms of quality comparisons, setting either the US release or the 8 Year next to the 12 Year is pointless. A difference of 4 to 6 years makes quite a difference. Similarly, comparing any version of the 101 to higher proof offerings like Rare Breed or Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel is of little use. They’re all Wild Turkey. The quality will be there.
But the differing specs of these various releases do divide them in terms of the experiences they intend to offer. Wild Turkey 101 8 Year would seem to be offered as a single step—not even up from, but simply adjacent to—the ubiquitous standard US release. It is essentially the ubiquitous standard Japanese release. The baseline.
With the Japanese export age-stated at 8 years, it is guaranteed to be at least that old. Jimmy and Eddie Russell are known to quietly blend older whiskeys into their bourbons on the regular. So in addition to the price, there’s also a bonus over the US release to what’s inside the Japanese export bottle.
Let’s see what it’s like. Here we are, nine days after uncorking and three pours into the bottle. These brief notes were taken using a simple brandy glass—my favorite for Wild Turkey.
COLOR – that classic Wild Turkey 101 bright yet calm autumnal orange
NOSE – oak, bright baked cherry, cinnamon baking spices, vanilla, bright caramel
TASTE – very like the nose, with the oak’s tannins leaning in just a bit more, and then a dark oak note at the end that approaches Wild Turkey “funk” without quite crossing over
FINISH – dark caramel, oak, slightly burnt buttery cherry pie crust
OVERALL – pretty much everything I want from a bottle of Wild Turkey 101
With Wild Turkey 101, my expectations are for a solid “standard” bourbon experience. These expectations are dependably met by any bottle of the brand. This 8 Year outing is no exception. In fact it pretty much nails it. I dare say it’s a perfect bourbon, for the price asked or even a bit higher. I paid $20 for this. At $30 I’d have been just as pleased. Even at $40 I’d be very content. I’ve paid more than that for less pleasing experiences. The bourbon world makes no sense. Capitalism is a joke and marketing departments are its jester.
But the bourbon itself? That’s the real thing, sitting quietly amidst the noise. Living in the US, I can’t readily get this particular release. And I wouldn’t pay secondary or re-imported prices for it. But I sure am glad I have this 700ml bottle, with two more 1L bottles bunkered. Indeed, I broke my no-bunkering rule and acted upon my Year of No Buying caveat to set myself up with a supply that will last me a good while, and I’m so glad.
Despite the consistency of Wild Turkey products, there’s that inevitable curiosity about how one batch will compare with its variants.
I have a bottle of 2001 Wild Turkey 101 on hand and open. That would be a comparison between eras and entry proofs. I’m curious about that. But I’m even more curious about how this exported 8 Year might compare to a US release bottled at the same time.
So for the sake of (pseudo) science, I set out to find a US-release Wild Turkey 101 from January 2023, the same month this Japanese export was bottled. I assumed I’d be unlikely to succeed. But the first corner store I tried, there it was, a 200ml bottle time stamped January 18, 2023—just 9 days later than the Japanese export bottle. Bourbon miracles do happen!
I compared the two January 2023 bottles first. Their colors are very close, with the 8 Year tilting darker. On the nose, a difference is even more immediately apparent. The 8 Year balances the dryness of the oak with a nice sweet cherry note, whereas the US release emphasizes oak and sweet caramel, with only very faint cherry.
On the taste, the US release carries on with the oak, caramel, the baking spices, also offering a distinct cinnamon hard candy note, but no cherry. And the texture is notably just a bit thinner than the 8 Year.
On its finish, a faint whiff of cherry syrup does breeze through the US release. But still the oak, caramel, and baking spices hold sway. It’s a good bourbon, no question. The caramel is nice and bright, sweetening the drier oak and spice notes. But I do prefer any Wild Turkey that leans into its cherry notes.
Comparing the 8 Year with the 2001 Wild Turkey, here the color difference is more distinct, with the 2001 leaning a quite notable notch darker.
On the nose, the 2001 has that unmistakable Wild Turkey “funk” note, a kind of damp herbal aroma. Given the lack of funk in the 8 Year, this note is more apparent today than in past tastings of this 2001 bottle. In addition to the funk, the 2001 has a nice vanilla syrup note, with both fresh and dried oak, and sugary sweet caramel. Nosing quickly back and forth between this and the 8 Year is like going back and forth between a vanilla syrup and a cherry syrup, both from some olde candy shop.
On the taste, the 2001 is true to its nose, with funk, oak, vanilla, caramel, and dashes of baking spice. Like the 2023 US release, the 2001 also lacks the cherry note featured in the 8 Year. Also like the 2023 US release, the 2001 is a very satisfying bottom shelf bourbon experience. This holds true on the finish as well, where the funk, vanilla, and oak linger in wonderful balance.
What this comparison tells me is this: I don’t need to sweat over any hard-to-get Wild Turkey 101. Whether bottled this year or two decades ago. Whether age stated or not. Whether sold at my local corner store or in Tokyo. There will be variances. And they will be good.
What do I prefer? Of these, the 8 Year. Does that mean I’m going to seek it out? Only if I visit Japan again and can pay the intended price. And you can bet if I ever have a friend who goes to Japan, I’ll be incidentally asking them how much extra room they have in their suitcase. 😉
Kanpai!
The Right Spirit 