Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Cornerstone
Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
54.5% ABV
$175
Website
What the Distillery Says
Master’s Keep Cornerstone is the fourth release in the limited edition Master’s Keep series, and was the oldest rye whiskey ever released by Wild Turkey prior Master’s Keep Triumph’s release in 2024. For this one-of-a-kind Limited Edition, Eddie Russell hand-picked and set aside a secret lot of his oldest and boldest rye whiskey barrels, all aged from 9 to 11 years, then leveraged his nearly four decades of experience to create a perfectly balanced spirit that showed off just what an American rye whiskey could be. Aromas of vanilla, black pepper, and toasted rye give way to cascading flavors of honey and baked apple before a long and lingering finish of spice and oak.
TASTE: Cascading flavors of honey and baked apple
AROMA: Warm vanilla, black pepper, and toasted rye
FINISH: Remarkably crisp and clean, with long and lingering flavors of spice and oak
PROCESS: 109 proof aged 9-11 years
What Gary Says
Nose: Citrus zest, dill, mint, charred oak, honey, pepper and a bit of cedar.
Palate: Green apple sour candy, cinnamon, caramel and honey.
Finish: Moderate in length, drying with apples and rye spice.
Comments: This is a very apple heavy dram (which apples aren’t an unusual tasting note, but with rye it is a bit different). Solid whiskey, although takes some work to coax the complexity from it, and that shines through for me more on the nose than on the palate.