Review: Wild Turkey Master's Keep Revival

Wild Turkey recently released Revival, this year's edition of its Master's Keep series, which seems to be hitting store shelves in Southern California this week.  While normally I would wait until a little deeper into a bottle to write up a review like this, given the recency of the release and the price tag associated with it, I erred on the side of posting something sooner than later in case others are debating whether to indulge.  I certainly wouldn't have minded being able to find a few more quality reviews before doing so myself.

The shtick on Revival is that it is a 12-15 year old Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced by Wild Turkey that is then finished in Spanish oloroso sherry casks that are 20 years old.  I'm not sure that the age of the finishing casks matters, but Wild Turkey seems to think that it does, so there you go.  Revival is bottled at Wild Turkey's classic 101 proof.

Ignoring price, I have enjoyed both of the prior U.S. releases of Master's Keep that Wild Turkey has put out - especially last year's Decades release.  The packaging on these is great - complete with an attractive box and bottle and a heavy cork stopper - and makes for a great gift in the sense in that it conveys a quality product is held within (notwithstanding that the quality of the packaging and liquid inside, of course, do not always positively correlate).  The big sticking point on these releases have been the price, as they are on the high end of the possibly acceptable range for a special release whiskey (at least the ones that don't immediately generate hysteria on the secondary market).  The one positive side effect of that is that these are limited edition whiskeys that you can actually find on a store shelf at MSRP (or sometimes even occasionally under), which is a disappointingly rare treat these days.

Bottle: 50.5% ABV, Aged 12-15 years (making it a 12 year old bourbon, but the bottle itself does include that range which is somewhat unusual), ~$140, "Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey finished in oloroso sherry casks", Batch No. 1, Bottle No. 29753

Nose: The first thing that hits me is peanut butter - not in a Beam peanut funk sort of way, but more of a light creamy peanut butter - and cherry syrup.  Chocolate and nougat evocative of a Baby Ruth candy bar.  Rich mahogany and many leather-bound books. Or maybe just leather. Some classic oak notes - vanilla and tannin with baking spices, specifically cloves and a muted cinnamon.  The alcohol occasionally pops through more than I would expect for a whiskey that is "only" 101 proof, but not in an unpleasant way. 

Taste: On the palate, it delivers much of what the nose promises - it's somewhat sweet with raisins, figs, dried cherries and burnt orange peel.  The oak notes come through with tobacco, chocolate, leather and baking spices. Peanuts again, but this time actual peanuts, rather than peanut butter. Pleasant, lingering finish.    

Thoughts: I was not particularly excited about this release when it was first announced. I have no major objections in general to cask-finished whiskies, but the novelty of the concept has sort of worn off as various brands have come out with them over the last few years.  I was worried that this may be a Wild Turkey misstep that is just a little too late to the party.  But, this is not that. I really enjoyed this bourbon. This is not a "sherry bomb" that one might find in the Scotch world, as the sherry influence positively contributes to the natural attributes of the bourbon in a way that enhances rather than replaces. The added sweetness, while not over the top, may typecast it as a "dessert bourbon" among some people, although I find it thoroughly enjoyable.

While cost is not a factor in the score below, one could reasonably question whether Revival is worth the price of admission.  One common theme I have seen from others considering this purchase is whether one bottle of this is worth two or three bottles of Russell's Reserve Single Barrel, for example. That's a tough threshold to meet considering the tremendous quality-to-price ratio those tend to represent.  For what it's worth, I had one of my glasses of this side-by-side with a store selection of Russell's Reserve Single Barrel that I had open and convenient.  I preferred Revival to this particular single barrel pick, although the latter had more of a minty profile that seemed out of place in comparison.  Did I like it 2-3x as much?  Probably not, but, nevertheless, I don't regret picking up a bottle of Revival and will take some degree of comfort in knowing that I can go down to the store and pick up a second bottle of this without much hassle should the mood strike. 

Rating: B+

Regarding the grading scale, my grades loosely track the LAWS Scale, and the threshold for what constitutes a "good" or "recommended" spirit will be set in the C+ to B- range. Price is not considered in assigning a rating.