Product Description
Details
Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Cornerstone is the fourth release in the Master’s Keep series, after the 17 Year Old, Decades, and Revival. Cornerstone is noteworthy as the first rye whiskey that Wild Turkey has released in this series, and is also the company’s longest aged and highest proof rye ever released. The bottle carries a 9 year age statement, however the company press release states it includes whiskey up to 11 years old. 16,000 bottles were produced for the U.S. market.
NOSE
A sweet and rustic aroma showcases oaky pine, honey, green apple, orange rind, and lemon zest. A quick swirl of the glass increases the richness of these scents, which makes a beautiful impression. This is not your typical rye nose, as it is much more flushed with flavors and complex than you usually find in many ryes on the market.
palate
The sip immediately hits you with a twinge of green apple and cinnamon roll sweetness, before transitioning into a more oak-heavy, slightly minty, and burnt butterscotch affair. It has a satisfying amount of heat that helps elevate the complexity of its flavors and doesn’t simply overpower them. The flavors are enjoyable, but not over the top.
finish
The oak comes through hard on the finish resulting in a noticeably dry way to end the sip. The oak is nicely complemented by cocoa, rye spice, clove, and black pepper in keeping with the whiskey’s rustic flavor profile. It’s not mind blowing by any means, but it’s unique tasting enough to make up for it.
uniqueness
We’ve talked at length in our previous reviews of Wild Turkey Master’s Keep editions about the company's struggles with their limited releases in regards to how tempered they come across. At first taste, it seemed like Cornerstone was going to follow suit. It most likely won’t wow you with its initial sip. It’s not overly fruity or sweet like some ryes, nor is it as creamy or punchy as others. I tasted it against a number of available and older released ryes and found that it didn’t make a great first impression right out of the gate like some of them did. It wasn’t until I got to “know” the whiskey that its virtues emerged.
This is a “barely legal” rye, meaning, its rye percentage clocks in just over the legal requirement of 50%. This results in a rye having a lot of flavor similarities to a bourbon and lacking the rye flavor uniqueness of others that push higher rye grain percentages. That is one place where Cornerstone misfires in regards to its uniqueness. Cornerstone’s interesting finish aside, Wild Turkey ryes just don’t lean into their rye component enough as they should. On the other hand, Cornerstone offers what few rye whiskeys are ever able to offer to the degree it does: complexity.
Complexity isn’t a quality that’s always immediately noticeable, and explains why Cornerstone tastes a bit unimpressive at first sip. It doesn’t hit you with grandiose flavors. Instead, this is a sipping rye, and despite many ryes wanting to be a sipping rye, there are few currently available on the market that do it anywhere as well as Cornerstone does.