Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary 8 Year Bourbon Review [In Depth]

Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary 8 Year Bourbon

by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer

Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary 8 Year Bourbon Details

Distillery: Wild Turkey

Type & Region: Bourbon, Kentucky, USA

Alcohol: 50.5%

Composition: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% barley

Aged: At least 8 years

Color: 1.2/2.0 on the color scale (chestnut, oloroso sherry)

Price: $50-60

From the company website:

Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary 8 Year Bourbon overview

Holy moly, Jimmy Russell has been working at Wild Turkey for 70 years, since 1954. While he may not own Wild Turkey, he’s definitely the face of the entire distillery. He’s definitely seen some stuff – the ups, downs, and ups again of bourbon. He’s also likely sampled some of the best bourbons that they’ve ever made.

To celebrate that anniversary, Wild Turkey released an 8 year old + 101 proof bourbon for around $50.

Here’s some important context on this bourbon – Wild Turkey 8 Year 101 is not a new bourbon. It’s been sold in Japan for decades, and even in 2025 can be found for under $30-35 virtually everywhere. In the US though, I think it was discontinued in the 90’s. So in the US, this 70th Anniversary bottle is the return of Wild Turkey 101 8 Year after a decades long hiatus, which is exciting news.

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I have a cynical and hot take on this bourbon – because of my Japan experience, I personally am not that inspired by this special release. While I can’t definitively state that it’s just a repackaged version of what’s already sent to Japan (the bottle is really nice though), it sure feels like it. The reason is amazing but the context behind the bourbon really isn’t that unique, and it doesn’t feel exciting. Maybe Wild Turkey wanted to juggle celebration and “wow” with accessibility and price.

But you know what, maybe Wild Turkey has something special hiding up their sleeve. Let’s find out if this celebration goes off with a bang or a whimper in this Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary 8 Year Bourbon review.

As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.

Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary 8 Year Bourbon smell

I initially smell honey, baked apple, fresh cedar, toasted oak, vanilla, cinnamon, cherry, orange peel, anise, and a little bit of darker caramel and maple for some low end. Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary smells good, but it’s not particularly expressive. The pleasant and balanced (but closed-off) sweetness, fruitiness, oakiness, and spice feel good, but also nothing to write home about just yet.

I recall regular Wild Turkey 101 being a bit brighter, so the older bourbon in this blend adds more darkness. This is how I always hoped regular Wild Turkey 101 would be.

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After swirling and rest, I smell honey, lemon-infused vanilla, cedar, apple, apricot, toasted oak, clove, coconut, and some back end herbal fennel and mint, and some darker caramel and maple syrup sweetness.

Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary Bourbon smells very good, no doubt about that. The older age brings out more fruit, oak, and dark sugar character that make it feel more mature and filled-out, but it still feels somewhat closed off so the scents can’t fully express themselves.

This is absolutely an improvement over Wild Turkey 101, which I am not a fan of (hot take I know), but it’s still not comparable to Kentucky Spirit of Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel.

If you’re hoping for a more unique or amazing experience, then this still isn’t it. That’s fine, but it is what it is.

Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary 8 Year Bourbon taste and aftertaste

I taste darker honey, baked red apple, orange, cherry jam, roasted oak, cedar, clove, vanilla, coconut meat, cinnamon, and then some herbal fennel. Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary is more fruity and less oaky than I expected, which is for the better. The flavors have good fullness and range that are honey and fruit-forward, although the depth is not great. I would love for there to be some darker sweetness coming from the minimum 8 year old bourbon.

Looking back at my Wild Turkey 101 review and tasting the 70th Anniversary, the 70th Anniversary has none of the intense (and unpleasant) graininess, earthiness, and woodiness that made me not enjoy 101. Wild Turkey 101 felt clearly immature, but the 8 year old version does not feel like that at all. It definitely feels fairly mature.

It also feels different from its 50+% ABV cousins, Kentucky Spirit and Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel. This doesn’t have the expressive and mature oak of a Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit (at least the one I had) or the bolder character and layers of a Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel.

So far though, I like how this tastes but it’s not a particularly impressive or noteworthy bourbon.

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With “chewing” I get caramel, candied lemon, vanilla cream with a hint of funk that I sometimes find in dusty bourbons, baked red apple, fennel, shimmery roasted oak, cedar, licorice, cinnamon, clove, and some candied pineapple and dark caramel nougat.

“Chewing” finally pulls out the bolder flavors that I wanted with more sweetness, fruitiness, and fullness. Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary 8 Year Bourbon is very good

The flavors lean more into the sweetness and fruitiness with supporting oak, spice, and herbalness. It’s still not all that deep, round, or complex, but I still enjoy it. In terms of flavor profile, this is probably closer to a Kentucky Spirit than anything else that Wild Turkey makes.

The finish leaves honey, tingly apple and cherry, roasted oak, and clove with lingering toasted oak, honey, fennel, and cherry. After “chewing”, it leaves honey, vanilla cream, lemon peel, shimmery oak, clove, fennel, and cinnamon with lingering shimmery oak and light sweetness + herbalness.

This truly is what I wish regular Wild Turkey 101 was, or at least more like this.

I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too. Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.

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Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary 8 Year Bourbon Rating

I’ll repeat this a 3rd time – Wild Turkey 101…sorry…Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary 8 Year Bourbon drinks like what I suspect is a better batch of Wild Turkey 101. I don’t drink a lot of Wild Turkey 101 to write that with a lot of confidence, but that’s what comes to mind when I drink this. This is actually what I always hoped Wild Turkey 101 would be.

I guess this release is a fun return to form for an 8 year Wild turkey bourbon that hasn’t been sold in the US for decades. Considering a flight to Japan will cost anywhere from $600-2000, it is definitely cheaper to buy this in the US than to fly to Japan, where it’s $25-30 a bottle and super available.

I will admit though, the bottle design is definitely sleek and very cool, so that is one reason to buy it.

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If you have a bottle / somehow are still pondering if you want one as you stare at it on the shelf – temper your expectations. Wild Turkey 70th Anniversary Bourbon is an elevated version of Wild Turkey 101 but still not nearly as good as Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit of Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel.

Admittedly, those two aforementioned bourbons are often $10-20 more expensive, but the “limited” nature of 70th Anniversary gives it an air of exclusivity that closes that gap in price.

Celebrating Jimmy Russell’s 70th anniversary at Wild Turkey (utterly insane by the way) is completely warranted, but I wish that Wild Turkey had done something more unique and interesting, all while maintaining some level of accessibility.

Another Master’s Keep wouldn’t be right because those things are mad hard to find, but maybe a 10 year and 101 proof Russell’s Reserve would have been better, celebrating 70 years with a release that hasn’t been sold anywhere on the planet in 10+ years.

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Meet the Author: Alex

I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.

There are no sponsors, no media companies, and no nonsense. Support The Whiskey Shelf by Buying Me A Shot.

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BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)