Thursday, May 24, 2007

Last Night's Tipple

I enjoyed the Russel's Reserve from the other night that I decided to dip into my bottle of Wild Turkey Straight Rye Whiskey. Because it's Wild Turkey, it's bottled at 101 proof. (It's not that they always bottle their whiskey at 101 proof; it's just that they try really, really hard, especially for those bottlings that don't have other marketing hooks like the Russel's Reserve does.) There is no statement of age, but I believe that I have read that the barrels that go into it are usually five or six years old. I could attempt to track the information down, but I'm feeling lazy.

Anyway, after some time in the glass, this developed a nose very much like the Wild Turkey Bourbons that I've had: a robust vanilla/caramel/cinnamon bread pudding aroma that is very pleasing. It tastes much different, though: racy and spicy instead of big and mellow. It's not Sazerac 18 YO, but it's still pretty good.

1 comment:

Sara said...

Does the "vanilla/caramel/cinnamon bread pudding aroma" imply that they age the rye in the exact same barrels as the bourbon, and that the barrels are actually responsible for the aroma?