Wild Turkey "Forgiven"� - A 2013 "Accidental"� Blend of Rye and Bourbon

[DonRocks]

This is one of the bottles that Joe Riley selected for me, and it's a fascinating whiskey, supplemented by an even more fascinating backstory. Whether it's true or not will be left up to the reader.

I'll just quote straight from the canister:

"Introducing our small batch blend of Bourbon and Rye Whiskies"¦. The batch we never intended. With just one taste our Associate Master Distiller, Eddie Russell, knew their mistake was more a master stroke. Because it married the very best qualities of our robust Rye whiskey and a fine Bourbon: vanilla, oaky taste pointing perfectly towards a cinnamon, clove, and pepper finish. Aged, of course, in our No. 4 alligator charred barrels - something we'd never leave to chance."

And on the other side:

"When our Distillery's crew unwittingly mingled a very rare, high proof Rye with perfectly aged Bourbon, our Associate Master Distiller discovered they had created something exceptional: a whiskey blend that's big, bold and spicy, yet exceptionally smooth. Needless to say all was forgiven."

The whiskey is exactly as advertised - you can distinguish the Rye, you can distinguish the Bourbon, and you can enjoy the blend: it is indeed big, bold, spicy, and smooth - definitely mellowed from some age. My only question: is the backstory bullshit?

I've also looked into the two spellings: whisky, and whiskey. Here is an interesting post explaining the difference (worth reading if you're curious about such a thing). An excerpt:

Whiskey/whisky nmemonics [sic]:

Here's a quick way to remember how some of the world's biggest producers spell their products:

• Countries that have E's in their names (UnitEd StatEs and IrEland) tend to spell it whiskEy (plural whiskeys)
• Countries without E's in their names (Canada, Scotland, and Japan) spell it whisky (plural whiskies)

Whew! Time for a drink.

[jparrott]

I have an inside source (who doesn't work for WT any more). He was the foreman the day it happened. And it happened.

[DonRocks]

I have an inside source (who doesn't work for WT any more). He was the foreman the day it happened. And it happened.

Details! How did it happen, and how much was involved? I'm a purist, but this stuff is good.

[jparrott]

Do not worry about your purist credentials. The bottling of "a blend of straight whiskeys" was very common, particularly before, during, and soon after prohibition.

As for details, they really did just open the wrong valve.