Wild Turkey has released multiple renditions of Master’s Keep since 2015, and in 2022 they added a 17 year bottled-in-bond to the list. Those who tried each Master’s Keep edition before BiB, knew that this label was reserved for special juice. The first edition of Master’s Keep was a 17 year bourbon coming in at 87 proof and mighty delicious, so everyone was eager to get their hands on this one which would hopefully be a spicier more punchy version of its predecessor. However, as Disney has taught us many times, the sequel might not live up to the hype of the original.

“Master’s Keep 17 Year BiB” Notes

Nose

When you crack this bourbon open for the first time, your nose echoes your sentimental excitement as it is met with notes of a delicious milk chocolate malt, toffee, and beautiful, beautiful oak. Without much more detective work, notes of cherry and nutmeg also start to peak through to give a nice balance to the already delightful bourbon you have in front of you. It’s like a symphony to the olfactory nerves. While it is already drastically different from the original 17 year Master’s Keep release, the nose on this bourbon was something special. If we had to stop and rate this bourbon as it is on nose, we couldn’t stop ourselves from giving it a perfect grade:  10/10

Palate

With a nose like that, it is difficult to hold oneself back from not just jumping straight into this bourbon, so let’s get into it. The palate surprises the consumer, as the notes found on the nose are transformed. Cinnamon and a toasted caramel sugar immediately excite the palate. While the oak still shines through, the classic Wild Turkey orange also shows its presence, and it is accompanied by a nice light-tea note and tobacco leafiness. While we did not find the palate as enjoyable as we found the nose, all signs were pointing us that this would be an extraordinary pour that may not stay on the shelf for long: 8.5/10

Finish

Wild Turkey was firing on all cylinders with this release. Like our parents must have thought back in the mid-2000s in the housing market, there was surely nothing that could crash this rating. Then came the finish, that brought us to tears like the 2001 Daytona 500. We only have one note written down for this finish: Flat. All of the beautiful notes received from the nose and palate fall off near-instantaneously. 3.2/10

Ratings

  • Dylan: 7.3
  • Scott: 7.2