Wild Turkey Debuts 16-Year-Old Gold Foil Edition, First in New Austin Nichols Archives Line

Wild Turkey is launching its Austin Nichols Archives line with the release of a 120-proof, 16-year-old bourbon called Gold Foil Edition, the brand announced today in a press release. Gold Foil Edition, one of the most anticipated spirits releases of the year, is now available in select markets at a suggested retail price of $400.

Austin Nichols Archives will be an annual, limited-edition series dedicated to celebrating the most famed dusties of the distillery’s past. As the line’s first expression, Gold Foil Edition aims to honor Wild Turkey expressions from the bourbon industry’s infamous glut era of the 1970s and ’80s.

At the time, blender Jimmy Russell gained renown for producing bottles with a certain “mature oak funk,” or notes of mature oak and dark fruit, according to the release. His grandson, associate master blender Bruce Russell, crafted Gold Foil Edition to feature that signature, woodsy musk.

Brand tasting notes highlight Wild Turkey’s hallmark oak funk on the forefront, giving way to notes of cherry cola, baking spices, and honey. Pepper, brown sugar, and leather emerge during the elongated finish.

“I drew on everything I’ve learned from my father and grandfather to create a whiskey that honors the Wild Turkey legacy,” Russell says in the release.

Wild Turkey — owned by the Campari Group — has packaged the Gold Foil Edition in a cylindrical canister decorated with a turkey-hunting scene. Parts of the bottle are lined with gold foil, and the label references the Lawrenceburg, Ky., distillery’s early designs, per the release.

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