Remember these? ☞ Revisiting the Whiskey Barons Collection post Bourbon Boom

BOND & LILLARD
2017 release

MASH BILL – 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley

PROOF – 100

AGE – NAS (known to be aged 7 years minimum)

DISTILLERY – American Medicinal Spirits Co. (Wild Turkey)

PRICE – I won it in a raffle ($50 msrp for 375ml)

OLD RIPY
2017 release

MASH BILL – 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley

PROOF – 104

AGE – blend of 8 and 12-year bourbons “and younger whiskeys” according to a Campari press release

DISTILLERY – American Medicinal Spirits Co. (Wild Turkey)

PRICE – Won it in that raffle ($50 msrp for 375ml)

W.B. SAFFELL
2019 release

MASH BILL – 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley

PROOF – 107

AGE – blend of 6, 8, 10, and 12-year bourbons

DISTILLERY – American Medicinal Spirits Co. (Wild Turkey)

PRICE – Same raffle ($50 msrp for 375ml)

Back in 2017 when the first two of these bottles came out of the Campari marketing departme—er, I mean, the American Medicinal Spirits Co., responses ranged from indifference to guarded curiosity to side-eye. They each were priced at $50 for a 375ml bottle, which would make a normal 750ml a $100 prospect. But look again at the specs listed above. Those aren’t $100 specs. What was the deal?

Marketing. That was the deal. I’ll never understand why Campari thought burying the lead—that the great Wild Turkey was creating these—was a good thing. Didn’t want to create brand confusion by offering too many Wild Turkey variants? Maybe. But tell that to the people behind Elijah Craig and Knob Creek, two brands offered in endless refraction.

Likely they were simply trying to pitch another niche offering to the bourbon boom crowd that was really starting to roar right around then. Nostalgia was their hook. Each bottle’s labelling is bursting with old-timey iconography. And I can’t help but be certain “Old Ripy” was an unsubtle move to capitalize on the Old Rip Van Winkle phenomenon.

Then there’s the ambiguous age non-statements. If you dig you can find that Bond & Lillard uses bourbons aged 7 years. The press release for Old Ripy highlights a blend of 8 and 12 year bourbons, but then slips in “and younger whiskeys,” which is just bad sleight of hand. Finally with W.B. Saffell they came out and named all the components. But the key consumer for niche whiskey offerings doesn’t like these sorts of shenanigans, rightfully considering them cause for suspicion. Just tell us what you’re doing, Campari.

So between the pricing and the transparently slippery marketing, the Whiskey Barons Collection soon waned and withered. Only W.B. Saffell, the universally recognized best of the bunch, managed to catch any wind in its sales. I logged notes on it myself, more than once.

I had no interest in picking up the Old Ripy or Bond & Lillard. But then early in the pandemic I won a free set of the full Whiskey Barons trio in a raffle. Even getting them for free didn’t stimulate my curiosity. I got these in the summer of 2020 and I’ve only just cracked them.

Now in 2026, tasting through them all at uncorking, I was surprised. They’re perfectly good. Not worth $50. But good. It occurred to me, with the frenzy of the bourbon boom now behind us, some bottles that came and went back in the thick of it might be worth revisiting. Maybe something got overlooked in the frenzy. Or maybe now that the brouhaha has passed it’s easier to approach them a bit more objectively.

So here we are, about two week after uncorking the Bond & Lillard and Old Ripy, and about a week after uncorking the W.B. Saffell. I’m on the third pour of each bottle today. These brief notes were taken using simple brandy glasses.

COLOR

B&L – straw, toasted sienna, honey

OLD RIPY – straw, honey-mustard

SAFFELL – slightly russet orange-amber

NOSE

B&L – cinnamon, oak, vanilla, cherry fruit rollup

OLD RIPY – vanilla, caramel, oak, milk chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg

SAFFELL – refined oak, vanilla, creamy milk chocolate, caramel chunks, cinnamon, fresh crusty bread loaves, faint baked cherry, a bundle of fresh wild flowers

TASTE

B&L – oak, milk chocolate, vanilla hard candies, cherry fruit rollup

OLD RIPY – a creamy texture, with oak, vanilla, baking spices, subtle rye grain

SAFFELL – waves of bright and syrupy caramel, then oak, baking spice, a touch of rye spice

FINISH

B&L – oak, oak tannin, toffee, dry baking spices

OLD RIPY – cream, oak, the subtle rye grain note, a warming prickle from the ABV that swells and fades

SAFFELL – caramel fudge, refined oak, dried wild flowers, a fine prickle of ABV heat

OVERALL

B&L – a light riff on Wild Turkey 101

OLD RIPY – a good ol’ fashioned bottom shelfer

SAFFELL – would make a welcome standard Wild Turkey edition in the lower price range

WORTH BUYING?

B&L – No

OLD RIPY – No

SAFFELL – Now and then, if you’re a Wild Turkey fan

My assessments of these at their uncorking basically stand. Not bad. Not worth the price. Not necessary. I’m not mad at them. But of course I got them for free, so. Back in 2019 I paid for two bottles of W.B. Saffell. I wouldn’t buy it again now, unless I found it on sale for $20 or so, then maybe. Otherwise, I’m content to make my way through this raffle prize and bid the brand farewell.

If Campari were to release W.B. Saffell now as a 750ml standard offering, priced at $35 or so, I bet it might do well. Even at $40. The recent US revival of the Wild Turkey 8 Year seems to be doing fine, settling in at around $40 on average.

Granted, what would Campari’s motive be? Their Whiskey Barons Collection experiment flopped. Yet on the third try, W.B. Saffell received valid praise across the bourbon community. Could be something to consider. I’d buy it.

On the other hand, if Campari lets any or all these whiskeys fade into history, that’s also fine. You win some you lose some. I won these, and they cost me nothing. They will serve Old-Fashioned cocktails very well. And when I uncorked the Old Ripy and poured it into a cheap little dive bar tumbler, it tasted perfectly at home.

I imagine I’ll be pouring any these Whiskey Barons when I’m in the mood for what dusty cheap stuff like Jim Beam’s 8 Year and Repeal Batch offer, or good ol’ Wild Turkey 101—end of a hard day, no nonsense whiskey. That oddly comforting combination of down and dirty, cheap, tasty, uncomplicated, solid bourbon. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need. Just not for $50.

Cheers!