Wild Turkey Rare Breed
I’ve got a confession to make that might offend certain bourbon lovers—I think most Wild Turkey bourbon is not all that great. It’s OK. I’ve had some good Turkey, some bad Turkey. But mostly mediocre Turkey. Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon (often abbreviated as WT101), the Kentucky distillery’s flagship whiskey, is… well, it’s OK I guess, but it’s pretty meh. Back in the day, WT101 was an excellent bourbon, and there’s a good reason that people chase down dusty old bottles of it from the 80s and 90s. But I find the modern NAS bottlings to be immature and too medicinal. Yes, it is inexpensive, but there are way better bourbons in the same price range, in my opinion.
In spite of my generally apathetic feelings towards much of the whiskey currently bottled under the Wild Turkey label, I do enjoy some of their expressions, particularly the Russell’s Reserve expressions (especially if it’s a good store pick). Which is not what I’m reviewing today. Today I’m reviewing the cask strength version of Wild Turkey—Rare Breed. It’s probably the best US expression from Wild Turkey outside of the Russell’s Reserve stuff.
It’s hard to find cask strength bourbon for under $50 these days, but Rare Breed is the rare exception. It’s very affordable and readily available at pretty much any decent liquor store in the US. But just because a whiskey is reasonably priced, doesn’t automatically make it worth that price. Is Rare Breed worth it’s moderate price tag? Let’s take a look.
Wild Turkey Rare Breed Review
Type: Bourbon
Region: Kentucky
Age: NAS
ABV: 58.4%
Nose
Burnt caramel. Marzipan. Amaretto. Ethanol. Powerful, but sweet. A touch medicinal. Vanilla custard. Fresh cream. Quite nice.
Palate
Buttery caramel. Brown sugar. Cinnamon spice. Almond paste. Banana cream pie. Cocoa powder. Medicinal and a little bitter. A touch of funkiness. Moderately rich and full mouthfeel, although not quite as mouth coating as I look for in a cask strength bourbon.
Finish
Not as long as I’d like, although not terribly short either. I guess you’d say medium length, but on the short side of medium. Sweet cream. Buttery. Vanilla. Almond paste. Banana cream pie. What’s here is nice, it just fades too quickly.
Overall
This is a pretty good bourbon, but it’s missing a bit of depth or oomph or something, which keeps it from being very good or great. When it comes to a cask strength bourbon, I’m looking for something that’s either deeply complex or a big flavor punch in your face. Rare Breed is neither.
As far as readily available cask strength Kentucky bourbons go, this is probably my least favorite. It’s fine. It’s certainly not bad. The nose is quite lovely, but the rest is just kinda OK. It teases you with greatness, but fails to live up to it.
I know a lot of people worship Wild Turkey. I’m not one of those people. Rare Breed is inferior to other comparable cask strength bourbons. Of course it’s also cheaper than most such products. Sometimes you get what you pay for, even when it comes to whiskey (not always though, it’s important to note).
While other cask strength bourbons have become extremely difficult to obtain or have shot up in price, Rare Breed remains affordable and available. While that is a good thing, I would venture to guess that the reason for this continued trend is due to the fact that Rare Breed is not quite in the same league as cask strength offerings from other distilleries.
SCORE: 6/10
Final Thoughts
Wild Turkey is known for having a bit of a funk to it… it’s almost the Springbank of bourbon. Seeing as I’m a huge Springbank fan, you’d think I might similarly love Wild Turkey, but that’s just not the case unfortunately. Wild Turkey is, in my opinion, one of those whiskeys that really needs extra maturation in order to shine, and the juice that’s being bottled today under their standard line isn’t old enough to show off how good Turkey can be. I enjoy the Turkey funk when it’s mature, but not so much at younger ages.
Rare Breed is a batched product and does vary a bit from batch to batch, although it’s largely pretty consistent in my experience. That said, there was a recent batch that is gaining some bit of fame due to a rumor that it included older juice in it—supposedly a bit of 15 year old bourbon due to a temporary shortage of what would normally go into Rare Breed. I got to try some of that batch recently, and it is considerably better than the bottle I’m reviewing. It’s really, really good actually. If that were the standard Rare Breed, I’d give it a much higher rating and recommendation. Unfortunately, it’s far from the standard.
Wild Turkey does make some good whiskey. I’ve had some really good store picked single barrels of Russell’s Reserve recently (one of which I’ll be reviewing sometime soon), but too much of the Turkey lineup is too immature to be interesting to me.
Buying Advice: It’s not bad for the price. It’s also not great for the price. I’d rather spend a little more and get a better bourbon. Or spend a little less and still get a better bourbon. But if you love the Turkey and that medicinal funk, then this is probably a good buy for you. It’s certainly a step up from Wild Turkey 101, and it’s one of the least expensive cask strength bourbons on the market.
Drink This Not That: The pinnacle of the Wild Turkey line is the Russell’s Reserve expressions. Skip Rare Breed and look for store picks of Russell’s Reserve—they can be terrific.
Questions about my scoring system? Refer to the Review Method & Scoring Scale page.
For more reviews, check out the Whisky Review Archive.
