Last Night's Tipple

In recent years, a plethora of barrel proof spirits (ie, spirits that purport to be bottled straight from the barrel without being diluted with water first) have come onto the market. I'm not exactly sure what accounts for this phenomenon, although it probably has at least something to do with an opportunity to sell what is essentially a novelty product to the collector population and with the knowledge that some segments of the liquor-buying population view high-proof spirits as tests of manliness that they're going to pass, by God. Barrel proof spirits are (somewhat) appealing to me mostly because of the lack of dilution. Let's face it: most of the flavor in Bourbon or any other wood-aged spirit comes from the barrel. In Bourbon's case, it's the barrel that imparts the vanilla, butterscotch, creme brulee, and bread pudding aromas that I like so much. Not diluting the liquor before it goes into the bottle means that the finished product will have more of that vanilla-y goodness that I love. I'm not crazy about the added alcohol, but it's a trade-off that I'm willing to make.

Wild Turkey Rare Breed is one of the original barrel proof Bourbons on the market, and it's more than a little bit unusual in that it's only 108.4 proof. That sounds high, but consider that Bourbon by law can go into the barrel at up to 125 proof, and it typically gets higher in alcohol with age (the reverse of what happens when Scotch ages). One of Buffalo Trace's barrel proof offerings, George T. Stagg, typically comes in at proofs in the high 130s or low 140s. Booker's, Jim Beam's barrel proof offering, is around 125 proof. That Wild Turkey Rare Breed is only 108.4 illustrates one of the things that makes WT unusual in the Bourbon world: they distill their whiskey to a lower proof than anybody else in the business on the theory that the additional congeners that this process leaves behind in the finished spirit enhance the flavor and character of their whiskey. Whatever the reason, this Bourbon is a very good one. It's typical Wild Turkey in that its body is huge, that it has quite a rye kick, and that it tends to slap the drinker around a little bit. It's older than regular old Wild Turkey, though, and more polished. There are some pipe tobacco and some cinnamon bread pudding aromas, and some yeasty brioche on the palate. All-in-all, a very enjoyable tipple.