Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. This in no way, per our editorial policies, influenced the final outcome of this review. It should also be noted that by clicking the buy link in this review our site receives a small referral payment which helps to support, but not influence, our editorial and other costs.
“Let me hear you say, this s*** is bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!” The 2023 Wild Turkey Master’s Keep release “the Voyage” is one of the sumptuous bourbons I’ve had the privilege of trying and channels those Gwen Stefani’s lyrics like they were was meant to be its theme song.
My journey with “the Voyage” started on a warm September evening at a curated bourbon tasting I arranged for 12 friends. Fortunately, I had just visited my editor and founder of The Whiskey Wash, Nino Kilgore-Marchetti. A tall man with perpetual scruff, Nino is a stoic but good humored individual, channeling an energy that is part wartime correspondent and part whiskey sommelier. He somehow always gives you the impression that he’s seen things you can’t handle and that you actually know very little about whiskey.
In his small but cozy office, decorated with whiskey bottles, maps, and the tops of kegs emblazoned with the logos of distilleries, Nino had prepared my review materials (booze), and in the middle, in turquoise blue, was the latest Wild Turkey Master’s Keep release: Voyage. Not believing my luck, he went on to tell me that, yes just like King Arthur of old, I had pulled the sword from the stone and got to review this once in a lifetime whiskey. I practically ran out with the bottle, lest he realize his mistake that I was in fact not qualified to review anything, and decided to crowdsource my review. I wanted to see what the masses, or at least my masses, thought of this philosopher’s stone.
About 12 hours later, amongst curling cigar smoke and comfortably arranged around my 7-piece Grenada outdoor sectional (FYI, white is not a good color for hosting cigar nights), we cracked open the artfully designed glass bottle and passed it around. For a minute, we sat in silence as the cragged faces, etched with lifetimes of stress from work in the criminal justice system, chewed on the bourbon. With serene majesty, the grizzled defense attorney nodded and said “Bananas. I taste bananas.” The veteran police office piped in, “B-A-N-A-N-A-S, this s*** is bananas.”
And just like that, the spirit of Gwen Stefani passed from one man to another, until the subsequent music choices closely resembled a 2005 high-school prom.
The flavors my friends had astutely identified come from Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Voyage’s barrel finishing, a former cask of Appleton Estate Jamaican Rum. The practice of barrel finishing is relatively new to bourbon. Despite having been around since around 1789, bourbon is still a junior of the spirits world. Not only are other whiskies older, Scotch since the 15th century and Irish whiskey since the 12th century, but bourbon was also developed and marketed as an everyman’s drink, a no nonsense drink designed to be accessible to the average American and absent the bells and whistles of luxury whisky.
Finishing bourbon really got noticed for the first time in 2011 with Angel’s Envy port finished bourbon, and now is a common feature in limited releases, seasonal releases, or even some main line expressions.
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These finishings are clearly becoming bolder as the choice of Jamaican is especially daring, as it is known for its unique and pungent flavors. It is high in esters that result from an uncontrolled fermentation process using dunder (the left-over liquid in a boiler after rum distillation) and muck (basically a soup of bacteria, sugar cane, dunder waste, and acid) that are mixed in, resulting in a “funk” smell of tropical fruits, overripe banana, and exotic spices.
The marriage of “funk” and bourbon could not have gone better for Wild Turkey. By almost unanimous opinion, the Voyage was the most surprising and well liked whiskey of the night at my tasting, with the sole outlier being an exclusive scotch snob whose opinion we can disregard for this review. I am in hearty agreement and while I would usually balk at a $275 price tag for a bourbon, this would certainly be a spectacular centerpiece to your collection and a superb whiskey to boot.
Tasting Notes: Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Voyage
Vital Stats: 10-year-old bourbon finished in Appleton Jamaican rum barrels. 106 proof (53% ABV). $275/750ml.
Appearance: Rich orange, lighter than other bourbons of similar age.
Nose: Noticeable hazelnuts, orange peel, and maple syrup appear, but of course so do bananas. Nutmeg with a tiny bit of oak flit around the edges.
Palate: Ripe bananas richen to a nice smooth bourbon flavor of cedar box and cinnamon. Toffee cooked apples pop in, leading to a fine finish of molasses and pecans.
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