Nose: Big and brash, with clove, creamy vanilla, barrel and baking spices, tobacco, a little orange zest, dark cherry and leather — pure vintage Wild Turkey funk.

Wild Turkey Austin Nichols Archives Gold Foil Limited Edition Tasting Notes.

Nose: Big and brash, with clove, creamy vanilla, barrel and baking spices, tobacco, a little orange zest, dark cherry and leather — pure vintage Wild Turkey funk.

Palate: Dark amber, creamy, big and bold, opening with buttered popcorn before cherry cola, sweet vanilla cream, root beer candies, toasted oak and salted caramel unfold.

Finish: Long and evolving, closing with chocolate shavings, sweet tobacco, cardamom, dark fruit and peppery spice.

Why Choose Wild Turkey Austin Nichols Archives Gold Foil Limited Edition?

The idea for this release sat in Associate Master Blender Bruce Russell's notebook for a decade before finally coming to life — a genuine passion project built to honour "Cheesy Gold Foil," the vintage 101-proof, 12-year Wild Turkey bottling from the 1980s and 90s that developed a devoted cult following among collectors and "dusty hunters" chasing old bourbon. Rather than simply reissuing old stock, Russell set out to recreate that magic under modern conditions, ultra-aging the classic Wild Turkey mash bill to a substantial 16 years and bottling it non-chill filtered at a robust 120 proof, primarily from barrels matured in the distillery's historic Camp Nelson rickhouses. This marks the debut of an entirely new annual series, the Austin Nichols Archives Collection — named for the distributor that helped build the Wild Turkey brand in the 1940s — explicitly positioned to replace the brand's long-running Master's Keep series. Early critical reception has been outstanding: one respected reviewer wrote that the release "doesn't just deliver the goods, it reminds us that Wild Turkey... is crafting some of the best whiskey the modern world has tasted," while another called it "bold and mature," praising how the 120 proof enhances rather than overwhelms its flavour. With a suggested retail price around $400, this is a genuinely serious, collector-grade release for Wild Turkey enthusiasts and dusty bourbon hunters who never got to taste the real Cheesy Gold Foil.

Wild Turkey

Wild Turkey is a historic Kentucky bourbon distillery based in Lawrenceburg, long associated with the Russell family of master distillers, whose multi-generational stewardship of the brand continues today under Associate Master Blender Bruce Russell. The Austin Nichols Archives Collection takes its name from Austin, Nichols & Co., the distributor that helped build the Wild Turkey brand in the 1940s, and represents a new limited-edition annual series honouring the most iconic bottles in Wild Turkey's history. Wild Turkey remains one of the most respected names in American bourbon, with vintage releases like the original "Cheesy Gold Foil" continuing to command cult status and high prices among collectors decades after their original release.