My brother in law bought me a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 8 yr. from 1979 (so marked on the box) at an estate sale. I'm a big bourbon fan and have had current production Wild Turkey 101, Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve 101 from about 2005,current Russell's Reserve 90 proof, Kentucky Spirit as well as many, many other current bourbon offerings from Evan Williams Single Barrel to Van Winkle Lot B. Let me tell you nothing but nothing holds a candle to this old bottle of 8 year old Wild Turkey 101. The first thing I noticed when I opened up the box and pulled the 1 liter bottle out and held it up was the dark almost ruby color of the contents. I broke the tax seal and lifted the almost deteriorated cork off the bottle. This is the absolute best bourbon I've ever tasted with rich toffee, caramel and vanilla flavors with a hint of tobacco. Just damn delicious! I shared this whiskey with a couple of my bourbon buddies and they all couldn't get over just how good this standard old bourbon was. It became very apparent that the quality of Wild Turkey has declined greatly over the years. I was not a big bourbon drinker in the 70s, but if this bottle is typical of the quality of bourbon 35 years ago, then we are not in the golden age of bourbon. Oh, it may be more popular and there may be many more choices, but I could be very happy to have a lifetime supply of this 1979 version of Wild Turkey 101 and forgo any of the current bourbons. Yeah, it's that good.
Last edited by cooper57m; 01/25/15.
