Wild Turkey

Brief Story of Wild Turkey Whisky

The Wild Turkey Distilling Company, a division of Campari Group, distills and bottles Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey under the Wild Turkey brand. Near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, is where the distillery is located. It is part of the American Whiskey Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and offers tours.

On the old site of the Old Moore Distillery in Tyrone, Kentucky, near Lawrenceburg, Thomas Ripy established the Old Hickory Distillery in 1891. Following Prohibition, the Ripy family (Thomas died in 1902) rebuilt the distillery and resumed production of bourbon. The Ripys sold the bourbon produced at this distillery to a number of merchants who then bottled it under their own labels. One of these wholesalers was Austin Nichols.

After an Austin Nichols executive, Thomas McCarthy, took some warehouse samples on a wild turkey hunting expedition in 1940, the "Wild Turkey" brand was born. His friends were so taken with the bourbon that they kept asking for "that wild turkey bourbon." In 1942, Austin Nichols began bottling Wild Turkey. Robert and Alvin Gould bought out the Ripys in 1949.

Austin Nichols remained a non-distiller for the following three decades, bottling bourbon obtained on the open market under the Wild Turkey label. The Ripys/Gould distillery in Tyrone provided a large portion of this whiskey. Austin Nichols bought the business, which was then known as the Boulevard Distillery, in 1971 and renamed it the Wild Turkey Distillery. Pernod Ricard bought the distillery and the Wild Turkey brand in 1980.

Pernod Ricard sold the distillery and the Wild Turkey brand to the Campari Group in 2009. Wild Turkey was first distilled in a newly built facility near the existing distillery in 2011. The old bottling facility was relocated to make way for the new distillery. It was bottled by Campari Group's Austin Nichols division until the division was rebranded.

At the Wild Turkey Distillery, Campari established a new bottling facility in 2013. Wild Turkey had been bottled offsite in Indiana and, later, Arkansas for the past 13 years. Campari's SKYY vodka is also bottled there after being brought from the Illinois distillery, in addition to Wild Turkey goods.

Why is it a great choice?

Premium ingredients, select barrels,, a labor-of-love process, and Wild Turkey's Master Distillers' patience. You've got true Kentucky Straight bourbon brewed the right way all around.

The question is, what is the experience of drinking the products of this brand like and how does it taste? Let's see what kind of products that this brand can offer to you as a consumer.

Let’s start with Wild Turkey 101, with vanilla and caramel notes, it has a hint of sweetness up front. In the middle, there's oak and baking spices. Vanilla, cinnamon, and oak aromas, with a bold, distinctive Wild Turkey spice and orange peel finish. It's great straight up, on the rocks, or in a cocktail.

Next is Wild Turkey American Honey, It has a robust flavor and a clean, crisp, and smooth taste. Aromas of real honey sweetness, with a finish of rich honey. This cocktail can be served neat or on the rocks.

Overall, Wild Turkey 101's combination of high proof, low price, and delicious attributes is a perfect storm. It's a fantastic drinking bourbon because to its high proof and flavor balance, which isn't typically true with budget bourbons. It's an excellent mixing bourbon because of its low price and high proof.

Time to chug it up! Wild Turky Distillery still has a lot of quality and flavorsome products being produced. If you're curious about the other products of the brand, you can purchase them here in our shop and get the opportunity to taste them. Add it to the cart and buy it online now!