Official Bottling | 54.4% ABV
Score: 4/10
Some Promise.
TL;DR
Sometimes gems lurk at the back of your whisky cupboard
Forgotten Whiskey Lies In Wait
With the recent news that the wreck of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance had been found 3km below the surface of the Weddell Sea in the Antarctic, comments on social media quickly turned to thoughts if any of his whisky had survived, other than the supplies that were found under the hut* that was built for his 1908 Antarctic expedition. This blend was later recreated by Richard Patterson of Whyte & Mackay fame, but my thoughts started to turn to lost whisky of another kind.
I usually keep my prized whiskies hidden in a safe refuge, especially the open ones, as I don’t want my wife finishing off something I’ve spent a relative fortune on rather than the supermarket Glenfiddich she would be happy with. I learned my lesson quickly after she finished off a rare Bruichladdich that now fetches more than £350 at auction. As I have a few bottles nearing completion, I thought it would be a good time to see what ‘common’ whiskies I had open on the bottle shelf of my living room sideboard.
Among the detritus of whisky bought at the local supermarket, I found three bottles of Wild Turkey: Two of the 43% ABV bottles were unopened, while a Wild Turkey Rare Breed that I’d purchased while working in the US in 1998 was also there. I’d had two or three drams out of the Rare Breed when I returned home, and that was it. Unearthing it, I knew immediately I needed a bottle to transfer it to if the whisky was worth saving, as the chances of the cork being good were nil. As I attempted to remove the impressive wooden stopper, it came away in my hand all too easy, with a large proportion of the cork remaining in the bottle. And thus started the often repeated task of getting the funnel and coffee filter papers out so I could decant my whiskey into a recently killed bottle. The Rare Breed just looked out of place in a former Scotch bottle, so I endeavoured to get the original bottle back in play so the spirit could look more at home.
So, had the time in storage done any harm to the spirit? After the initial tastings I was unsure – I bought this bottle way before I took a serious interest in whisky. Indeed my interest in Wild Turkey only came after I saw a band called The Wild Turkey Brothers supporting The Levellers in the 90s. Seeing a bottle of Wild Turkey in a bar after the concert was all it took to get my interest going. As it had been nearly 24 years since the bottle was opened, it would have been impressive had I remembered anything of the original taste. I would have to say on the first sips from the bottle, it was clear that little to no evaporation had taken place – this was definitely a cask strength whiskey. By all accounts it would seem to be that I had gotten away with my neglect.
“It’s become a worldwide drink. And when I first going overseas, Scotch was all on the top shelf. Now, especially in Asia, the bourbon is on the top shelf.”
I then wondered how many others have forgotten drams, bottles that were opened once and then discarded? I was sure my Wild Turkey Rare Breed was not a unique case. While I may not have a lot of open bottles compared to some of you lovely people reading this, we all must have bottles that aren’t getting the attention they deserve. I’m not a great bourbon appreciator given that I am spoilt for choice by living in an area that has the largest concentration of Scotch distilleries, but I feel this one by its very merit as a survivor needs to be seen through its intended journey to bottle kill rather than getting poured down the sink. Now that I know a lot more about whisky than I did when I bought the bottle, I’m hoping I can appreciate the spirit more than I would have done when I bought it all those years ago.
I was desperately hoping the fact that I had kept the bottle upright, out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources could be the saving grace for this bottle, otherwise it may just have to be used as a pleasantly scented drain cleaner.
*Geek fact: The hut was known as the Nimrod Hut; Shackleton and Nimrod were later to be names used for UK long range maritime surveillance aircraft.
Review
W-T-01-96, 54.4% ABV
Best option is auction for this older bottling
It would be inaccurate to say this bottle had been forgotten as I had always known it was there. This is a trap the unwary whisky geek can fall into when there are more exciting things crossing your path. I often get scoffed at by American work colleagues when asked about my taste in whiskey from their side of the Pond, as Wild Turkey is often seen as nothing more than bottom shelf supermarket whisky. While I appreciate there may be finer bourbons available, this brand was my first on the journey. So many things could have been wrong with this spirit after so long but also due to it being an almost full bottle, there were many things that could be good about it also. Either way, curiosity wasn’t going to let me sit about much longer wondering about it.
Nose
Dusty wood, acetone, dark stone fruit, vanilla, fudge, McCowans Highland Toffee.
Palate
Quite sharp on arrival – caramel with a heavy wood taste. Black cherries and blackberries with aniseed are present. I detect a slight vegetal note. There’s a bit of heat here, with a peppery spice. This is held throughout the finish which continues on the cherry and aniseed theme with a bit of cinnamon. It’s a bit tannic and is very dry in the mouth and leaves a slightly dusty aftertaste. Water subdued the wood but not completely.
The Dregs
After so long sitting in the cupboard, this bottle wasn’t ready for a review straight away – the bottle needed to sit for a couple of hours to let it breathe. It was a bit of a mixed bag. While I taste the familiar flavours so often experienced from a bourbon cask, there is also a hint of something else. I have to think about the dominant wood here, and to me it’s off balance. Whether or not this is as a result of leaving the bottle in the cupboard for so long and left traces of old bottle effect, I don’t know. I would conclude that perhaps I got away with not having to waste this whiskey, but crucially I have missed consuming this bourbon in its prime. Perhaps I’ll notice an improvement as the bottle goes down further. Let this be a cautionary tale for all of you who have forgotten whiskies on the shelf.
Score: 4/10
