Wild Turkey Master's Keep Cornerstone Batch 0001 Rye Whiskey 750ml

Wild Turkey traces its roots to the Ripy family, who returned to Lawrenceburg, Kentucky after the Civil War and built a distillery on the site of the old Moore Distillery, reviving it again after Prohibition. Today the brand is helmed by father-son master distillers Jimmy and Eddie Russell, and Cornerstone marks a milestone for the family: the fourth release in the Master's Keep series and the first rye whiskey to appear in that limited-edition lineup.

Eddie Russell hand-selected a secret lot of the distillery's oldest and boldest rye barrels for this release, ranging from nine to eleven years old, making it the longest-aged rye Wild Turkey had produced to that point. Batch 0001 was bottled at 109 proof, non-chill filtered, with roughly 16,000 bottles released domestically. The whiskey draws on Russell's decades of blending experience to bring the older barrels into balance rather than let the extended aging dominate the profile.

The nose offers vanilla, black pepper, and toasted rye alongside graham cracker, baked apple, and a distinctive note of medicinal cherry that sets it apart from Wild Turkey's standard rye expressions. On the palate, honey and baked apple flavors cascade forward, layered with ginger, red grapefruit, and brown sugar glaze. The finish runs long, closing on warm spice and oak that lingers well after the last sip.