Wild Turkey’s Gold Foil Edition Is a Superb New Bourbon
American whiskey collectors have long sought out vintage Wild Turkey “dusties,” bottles from the 1980s and 1990s which are prized for their unique flavor due to the particular production practices and age of the whiskey used at the time. To honor that legacy, the distillery just released the first bourbon in its new Austin Nichols Archives Collection called Gold Foil Edition, a reference to the valuable and highly coveted “Cheesy Gold Foil” bottles from decades ago.
So just what makes old Cheesy Gold Foil Wild Turkey, which sells for thousands of dollars on auction websites like Unicorn, so collectible? The period of the 1980s to ’90s was a glut era of whiskey (something we might be entering into now as well), and according to the brand this meant that master distiller Jimmy Russell was able to blend barrels aged for eight to ten years into bottlings (and sometimes even older), as opposed to the standard six to eight-year-old whiskeys of today. There were other differences too—wooden fermenters were used at the time, but were ultimately phased out by the turn of the century; and the whiskey was entered into barrels at 107 proof during that period, but then raised a few times to reach 115 proof in 2006.
All of this is not to say that modern Wild Turkey is inferior—it’s just very different, and the distillery has been releasing excellent expressions under its name and its smaller batch Russell’s Reserve label over the past decade. But clearly this new release is a shout-out to the rabid fandom that the old Cheesy Gold Foil bourbon has attained, and it’s also the first new high-end series to come out after the final Master’s Keep release, Beacon, which was spearheaded by master distiller Eddie Russell (Jimmy’s son).
The Austin Nichol Archive Series, which is named after the company that owned the distillery until 1980, continues the family lineage—it was overseen by associate master blender Bruce Russell, Eddie’s son and Jimmy’s grandson. The new Gold Foil Edition is a 16-year-old bourbon bottled at 120 proof, and based on the sample we got to try, this is a very welcome addition to the lineup. “Austin Nichols Archives has been a labor of love, and I’m excited to finally share it with bourbon lovers everywhere,” said Bruce Russell in a statement. “Gold Foil Edition was the perfect bourbon to launch the collection. Inspired by a personal favorite of mine and of many Wild Turkey fans, I drew on everything I’ve learned from my father and grandfather to create a whiskey that honors the Wild Turkey legacy.”
This is not the highest-proof Wild Turkey bourbon to date—that honor goes to Generations from a few years back (and there have been even stronger Russell’s Reserve whiskeys)—but at 120 proof it’s certainly up there in terms of ABV. Still, there’s very little burn as you sip, and the palate is rich with notes of cherry syrup, tannic oak, dark chocolate, espresso bean, burnt caramel, maple, and leather. The barrels used for this release came from the famous Camp Nelson site, for those who are interested, specifically from rickhouses F, D, and E.
The bottle and packaging, which are unlike any other Wild Turkey release, are said to be inspired by old advertising for the distillery. And each release is supposed to include a unique Easter egg somewhere on the label, a little something for the super whiskey nerds. This is an expensive release however, at $400 per bottle, and will likely go for more than that once it hits the secondary market. Look for Gold Foil Edition available starting this later month at liquor stores around the country.
