I have not seen a new WT Tradition for 2010. Are you sure one was released? One good rule of thumb when hosting a tasting is to start with the lighter, more sublte whiskies and work you way to the heavier ones.

Yes, I do miss the old Russell’s Reserve at the higher strength, and I made sure I grabbed a bottle before they all disappeared. Cheers!

John,
It is excellent to find this site and kudos for your devotion to your work. I don’t know how blogs work with the new reports overshadowing the old ones but perhaps this will be noticed, read by you and beckon your reply.

Have you reviewed the current bottling of Tradition? Notable differences from 2009 ?….

We will also be tasting Elijah Craig 12 and 18 and Russell’s Reserve…. My inclination is to begin with the EC 12, then to RR10, then the EC18 and finale with Tradition. Is there a formula you follow when sampling from multiple brands?

David from KS,
Doubtful you will read this but just in case. I was also deeply affected after the change in WT 101. It was my “go to” bourbon for years. The evolution of the label was noticed by me. The first thing removed from the label was “Aged 8 years”, I still look for the missing red band below the label that housed those important words. I did find a few bottles while chasing birds in Nebraska a couple years after the label change and bought them, locked them up and threw away the key. One day I will pick the lock.
Also the label for sometime still had the “Old No. 8″ upon it though the red age band was gone. The beard on the turkey was short. Then the final change, there is no number “8″ anywhere on the label. Suddenly the beard on the turkey was long and a story was writ on the back label. My thoughts were, older turkey, younger whiskey. Shortly thereafter (about 2 years) Russell’s Reserve was released. I was rather distraught with Eddie and Jimmy and it has taken me years to accept change. I picked up a bottle of Russell’s Reserve some time back and again there is some Turkey in the cabinet. Also, regarding age, Evan Williams did the same thing a couple years ago. Took the age right off the label that is.

I’m not sure about the “bite” you are referring to. Yes, I am aware of the loss of the 8 year old age statement. It’s always sad when that happens. But as far as I know, they’re still making the whiskey the same way. (But you can’t go wrong with Evan Williams too!)

Greetings. Just introduced to your blog via the WSJ piece. Glad to have you as a current and future source of whiskey information.

Question: What happened to Wild Turkey’s aging process and inventory after the warehouse fire eight or ten years back? I always enjoyed the taste of the 101 proof which was remarkably smooth. Sometime after the fire “Aged 8 years” disappeared from the label. More importantly, the whiskey acquired a “bite” that I didn’t enjoy. I tried to get some information from the Wild Turkey distillery but was sent a pre-programmed, marketing e-mail that told me nothing. I’ve since changed my brand and now really enjoy Evan Williams as my number one bourbon.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Kind regards,

David Hornick
Leavenworth, Kansas

BTW John, have/will you try a Colorado Whisky I’ve been hearing about?