Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit is a single barrel bourbon, and according to some very serious researching, Jimmy Russell personally selects barrels that have been aging for about nine years to be bottled as this expression. Since this is bottled from a single barrel as opposed to a batch of barrels, each bottle has the ability to be completely unique. The charring on the barrel is char #4, which is one of the darkest chars, adding lots of complex favors.

Company: Campari

Distillery: Wild Turkey Distillery

Location: Near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky

Mashbill: 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% barley

Age: NAS (rumored 9-ish)

ABV: 50.5% (101 proof)

Released: Ongoing 

Price: $38

Color: Auburn (or Strawberry blonde)

Nose: This bourbon hits you with ethanol, caramel, vanilla, fruitiness, and oak. When transferred to a Neat glass, it’s less hot with more fruit.

Taste: Strong ethanol but very fruity behind it. This stuff is hot to trot. It has burnt sugar flavors. It tastes very similar to the way it smells.

Finish: Finish is spicy with sweet cinnamon, similar to red hots or fireballs. It has a very long finish leaving your lips tingly.

Overall: Spirit is a bourbon with a big punch. This bourbon hits you up front with a lot of spice, once you get past the initial spice, there’s a slightly bitter burnt sugar-like flavor, and maybe a tiny bit of fruit hiding back there. The longer I let it sit the more sweet it got with brown sugar sticky goodness, or maybe that’s because I’ve been drinking it, who knows.

I like this bourbon despite the spice, I can be overwhelmed by that sometimes if that’s all that I can taste, but not with this bourbon. It’s spicy but you can still enjoy the other flavors.

Plus, the bottle is pretty classy looking.

Rating: 3.5/5