Wild Turkey Private Selection Single Barrel Rye – Aged 8+ Years

WILD TURKEY PRIVATE SELECTION RYE
Single Barrel 24-6130 selected by K&L (2025)

MASH BILL – 51% rye, 37% corn, 12% malted barley

PROOF – 101

AGE – 8 years 9 months on Warehouse TY-Q’s 5th floor

DISTILLERY – Wild Turkey

PRICE – $87

WORTH BUYING? – for Wild Turkey fans, sure; Otherwise maybe go with a cheaper WT option

Single barrel store picks of Wild Turkey Rye are few and far between. They rarely released them under the Russell’s Reserve SiB Rye label, bottled at a lovely 104 proof. Now they’re letting out some rye under the newly minted Private Selection label, bottled at the classic 101 proof Wild Turkey is known for. But given this downtick in proof coincides with an uptick in price, Wild Turkey Rye fans have reason not to be unusually excited about this new brand extension.

In theory, that is. The true arbiter will be in the tasting. K&L has their first Wild Turkey Rye store pick ever in this current offering, a barrel that spent its 8 years 9 months on the 5th floor of Tyrone Warehouse Q. For avid WT fans, the Tyrone warehouses have been tickling interest lately, following the long reign of the Camp Nelson warehouses.

David Jennings, foremost chronicler of the brand, can dissect the fine flavor profile details of this warehouse versus that floor. I don’t dive quite as deeply into the brand as he does, and am not as all-embracing of everything Wild Turkey puts out. Their recent price hiking, for example, though a logical response to market trends, has been very off-putting. Part of the Wild Turkey appeal for me has always been its uncommon combination of quality and affordability. They still offer affordable bottles—e.g. the classic 101 and the recent US release of the formerly Japanese-only 8 Year 101. But the once easily attainable, longtime “shelf turd” Master’s Keep line has now been thrust by the company into the ultra-premium price range. The Russell’s Reserve 13 and 15 Year releases command prices that would impress Pappy Van Winkle himself. And even the US release of the 8 Year 101 costs $45 on average, whereas in Japan it’s about $20.

So it was with a shrug and a hope that I plunked down the price for this K&L age-stated SiB Rye. I’ve paid less for Russell’s Reserve SiB Rye, and still can. There’s always a bottle of Russell’s Reserve SiB Rye on my shelf. Can this lower-proof variation best it?

Here we are, five weeks after uncorking and some handful of pours into the bottle. These brief notes were taken using a simple brandy glass—my favorite for Wild Turkey.

COLOR – a classic Kentucky whiskey orange with tarnished brass highlights

NOSE – sweet caramel dusted heavily with cinnamon-forward baking spices, also vanilla, bright oak, faint cherry

TASTE – very true to the nose, with a nice balance of caramel, oak, light cherry notes, and only a faint hint of rye spice alongside the baking spices

FINISH – warm and bright, lingering with vanilla, caramel, and a dusting of baking and oak spice

OVERALL – despite Jimmy Russell’s general dismissal of rye whiskey as “pickle juice,” or perhaps because of it, this is a true bourbon lover’s rye

Looking over my past notes on Wild Turkey’s Rare Breed Rye and Russell’s Reserve SiB Rye, this Private Selection SiB lacks the herbal rye notes found in those, leaning much more into familiar Wild Turkey Bourbon notes. That’s not a complaint. This is a very enjoyable sip—easy to like, complex without complications, both mature and bright. Wild Turkey doing what it does so well.

I like it. I also like the Japanese and US releases of Wild Turkey 101 8 Year, which cost half to a quarter of this $80 bottle and offer a complimentary variation on the tasting experience. With the minimum proportion of rye grain in the mash bill to make it a legal rye whiskey, the high corn ratio lends this whiskey a bourbon sensibility. Why not just pour myself a bourbon?

So from a price standpoint, I don’t see myself going for future WT Private Selection Rye SiBs, unless I hear quite incredible things about a given offering. From a pure taste and sipping standpoint, however, this bottle is going to go fast. I’ll drink it neat. I’ll mix it into Manhattan and Ol Pal cocktails. I’ll share it liberally with guests. It’s good bourbon—I mean rye!

Cheers!