Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Bourbon Review

Disclaimer: A sample of  Master’s Keep  was provided to us by Wild Turkey for this review. We appreciate their willingness to allow Bourbon & Banter to review the booze with no strings attached. Thank you.


For many, the 17-year age statement of Wild Turkey Master’s Keep is more than enough to get them to stand in line for a chance to get their hands on Wild Turkey’s oldest release to date. For others, the fact that this barrel strength release comes in at just 86.8 proof–well below what we expect from a barrel proof release–makes it a bottle they must own so they can try to make sense of it all. (Remember, proof normally goes up when a bourbon ages in the warehouse–not down.)

For me, I was curious to taste Wild Turkey’s latest creation because Wild Turkey is one of my favorite brands and I’m always curious when they release a bourbon that is well above the age range that Jimmy Russell has publicly stated is ideal for their whiskey. I go into the tasting hoping for something truly amazing but also concerned that it won’t meet my lofty expectations.

I’m very aware that I have very specific things that I enjoy in a bourbon and gravitate towards when doing a review. It’s hard not to do so. That in mind, I invite you to watch my review of Master’s Keep and hope you’ll watch it to the end. (My apologies for it being so long but I really wanted to do a review and provide context with some other Wild Turkey releases.)

Master’s Keep is just one of three new releases coming from Wild Turkey later this summer. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to explore this one I’m really looking forward to Russell’s Reserve 1998 and Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel Rye. God bless Jimmy and Eddie for continuing to push the Wild Turkey brand forward and preaching the bourbon gospel.