Wild Turkey has unveiled the latest expression in its Master’s Keep series. Master’s Keep Triumph is a 10 year old rye, making it the oldest age-stated rye the distillery has ever released. This one is priced at $275, the same as last year’s Master’s Keep Voyage expression. As usual, it’s a limited release: it will be available in select markets across the U.S. at retail, and via online presale in early June.
Triumph is the 10th Master’s Keep release since the series began in 2015, and only the second rye. The other Master’s Keep rye expression was Cornerstone, which was released in 2019 and comprised 9 and 11 year old ryes, but was not age-stated. Most Wild Turkey rye is normally aged about 4-6 years.
Since its first year in 2015, Master’s Keep has continued to showcase its luxury side. Wild Turkey master distiller Jimmy Russell has never been a fan of ultra-aged whiskeys, preferring the top age to be 8-10 years—older than most American whiskeys, but not beyond that limit. His son, master distiller Eddie Russell, has long liked his whiskey a bit older, and Master’s Keep has largely been his domain. Eddie recounts that his first real exposure to ultra-aging whiskeys came in 1997—there was no room at Wild Turkey for the distillate—so he stored the barrels in the brick warehouses of nearby Stone Castle Distillery, which are no longer there. The brick environment caused the whiskey to age slower than in a rickhouse—to Eddie’s palate, an 8 year old tasted like a 4 year old aged at Wild Turkey. “We kept some of it until it got to 17 years old, and it was some of the most unique whiskey I’d ever tasted,” he says. “It was very layered but had an oaky finish on the back—a chewy finish.” That whiskey became the foundation for the older whiskeys within the Master’s Keep family.
The inspiration behind Triumph was the enthusiasm for rye shown by Eddie’s son Bruce, but it’s also meant to celebrate rye’s overall renaissance. Most rye had long been made in the northeast states of Maryland and Pennsylvania—even Jimmy Russell purchased rye from distilleries up there back in the day. But the last of those places began to shutter in the 1980s and rye production in the United States dwindled to less than 100,000 cases. Today rye is at 1.7 million cases, according to our research arm Impact Databank, its rebirth fueled by the cocktail revival and the enthusiasm of younger drinkers.
Master’s Keep Releases Over the Years: Whisky Advocate Reviews
Triumph: Not yet tasted
Voyage
Unforgotten
One
17 Year Old Bottled in Bond
Cornerstone
Revival
Decades
17 Year Old
