ECHO DOUBLE OAKED BOURBON
Seelbach’s Private Reserve Series (2026)MASH BILL – 73% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley
PROOF – 109.5
AGE – 8 years 5 months
DISTILLERY – Wild Turkey (blended and bottled by Seelbach’s)
PRICE – $121 (includes tax and shipping; msrp is $100)
WORTH BUYING? – For sure
Seelbach’s has long been among the great online retailers of interesting craft whiskey. It was inevitable they would eventually get into non-distiller producing themselves. One of their latest releases in that regard, Echo, caught my eye immediately.
In an effort to approximate the denser, richer, dustier pre-Prohibition bourbon profiles, they took 8-year Wild Turkey bourbon and finished it for 16 months in barrels made with 72-month air-dried oak staves. Then they proofed the barrels down slowly over six months, allowing the whiskey ample time to gently integrate.
Double-oaked Wild Turkey, aged and blended with the intent to revive century-old flavor profiles? Could just be a gimmick. But I was inclined toward optimism!
I cracked my bottle open the day it arrived. Rich black cherry, oak, tangy caramel. Everything dark and dense, with a slight cough syrup vibe. Recognizably Wild Turkey, yet transformed into something much more candy, and with a nice bitter oaky outline.
Now it’s two and a half weeks after uncorking, and three pours into the bottle. Let’s see how it’s continued to air out. These brief notes were taken using both a simple brandy glass and traditional Glencairn.
COLOR – rich, deep, vibrant oranges
NOSE – oh man… complex layers of cinnamon, caramel, vanilla, fresh and baked cherry, refined oak, chocolate cake
TASTE – thick and syrupy, with bright sweet black cherries, oak, caramel fudge, chocolate sauce
FINISH – chocolate and caramel sauces, dark baked cherry, lingering oak and baking spices, nicely warming
OVERALL – some of the best Wild Turkey I’ve had in awhile
Okay. If this had been released by Wild Turkey, bourbon fans would stumble over themselves to pay twice as much. Sure it’s only 8 years old, and the Wild Turkey 101 8 Year is now a standard release in the US and not just Japan. But the combination of age, barrel selection, finishing, that 6-month proofing time, and bottled at a substantial proof, have together yielded a remarkably vibrant and unusually rich variation on the familiar Wild Turkey profile.
The whiskey is even more impressive now than at uncorking. It certainly raised my eyebrows then. But tasting it today, at first sip I spontaneously closed my eyes and shook my head, chewing and savoring that sip.
The aromas and flavors fully deliver on the promise of the color. Bright and dark elements commingle effortlessly. The cherry notes, for example. They are bright and juicy like a maraschino cherry, and yet also come across with the darker sweetness of black cherries. The syrupy texture of the whiskey helps bridge the sweet candy notes with the more savory oak and spice notes. Those savory elements add complexity to the smoother candy and fruit elements. Each contrasting note compliments the other.
I hopped over to the Seelbach’s website to see whether there were any bottles left. As of this writing, yes there are. If I were not currently committed to only buying twelve bottles of whiskey from June 2026 to June 2027, and despite my having committed to not bunkering in general, I could have clicked “Add to Cart” twice with no regrets. (This is why I self-impose limitations from time to time!)
As to whether Echo successfully mimics pre-Prohibition bourbons, I cannot say. I’ve never tasted a bourbon from that era. But the Seelbach’s team has. And in setting themselves that goal, they’ve carefully rendered an exceptional bourbon whiskey by any standard or expectation.
I imagine any bourbon fan with complaints would be quibbling here. It’s true it ain’t cheap. And I do wish it cost less. (Always!) But in this instance, I don’t regret having paid the asking price plus tax and shipping one bit. I can’t say the same about every Wild Turkey limited release in the past handful years!
Cheers!
The Right Spirit 