Wild Turkey Master's Keep: Every Release Explained, 2015–2025

Wild Turkey Master's Keep is the limited-edition whiskey series produced by the Wild Turkey Distilling Co. in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, owned by Campari Group. Created by Master Distiller Eddie Russell in 2015 and concluded with Master's Keep Beacon in September 2025, the series comprises ten U.S. releases plus one Australia-only bottling, spanning 86.8 to 118 proof (43.4–59% ABV) and $150 to $300 at suggested retail across its run. Every U.S. release rated by Whisky Advocate scored 91 points or higher.

Definition: Master's Keep is Wild Turkey's limited-edition whiskey series, released between 2015 and 2025 by the Wild Turkey Distilling Co. of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Each release presented a distinct concept — extra-aged bourbon, sherry, toasted-oak, or rum cask finishes, and long-aged rye — under the selection of Master Distiller Eddie Russell, closing with the 118-proof Beacon in 2025.

What the series was made of · 11 bottlings by class

The series in its box colors · 2015–2025

Every accent below — table swatches, proof bars, release cards, scores — is drawn from that release's packaging.

The proof arc · 2015–2025

The series opened at the gentlest proof in premium American whiskey and closed at its own record. Bar length is proof, from zero; each bar wears its release's box color.

Distilled in 1997 from Wild Turkey's 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley bourbon mash, the debut spent years in another distillery's stone warehouses before returning to Lawrenceburg's timber rickhouses. The cool, stable stone drove its proof down instead of up — 107 at barrel entry, 89 at dumping, 86.8 (43.4% ABV) in the bottle. Released at $150 as Eddie Russell's first bottling after his January 2015 promotion to Master Distiller, it was, at the time, the oldest bourbon Wild Turkey had released in the U.S. Whisky Advocate rated it 91 points.

Announced by the distillery on February 13, 2017, Decades marked Eddie Russell's thirty-fifth year at Wild Turkey, dating to June 5, 1981. It blends bourbons aged 10 to 20 years from the distillery's oldest stock, bottled at 104 proof (52% ABV) at $150. Whisky Advocate scored it 94 points and named it the No. 3 whisky of 2017. A note for cataloguers: several later retrospectives, including Whisky Advocate's own 2025 series recap, list Decades as the 2016 edition; we follow the distillery's original February 2017 announcement.

The series' only export exclusive, 1894 was released for the Australian market at 90 proof (45% ABV) and roughly AU$199, per Whisky Advocate's series retrospective, which left it unrated. It remains the one Master's Keep bottling never sold in the United States — and the reason the series counts ten releases at home and eleven worldwide.

Revival blends Kentucky straight bourbon aged 12 to 15 years, finished in Oloroso sherry casks at least 20 years old that Eddie Russell selected in Jerez, Spain. Bottled at 101 proof (50.5% ABV) at $150, it was the first cask-finished Master's Keep and an homage to Sherry Signature, the Oloroso-finished bourbon Jimmy Russell released as an export in the early 2000s. Whisky Advocate rated it 92 points.

Cornerstone brought rye into the series: a blend of 9- and 11-year Kentucky straight ryes, carrying no age statement on the label, bottled at 109 proof (54.5% ABV) at $175 — for years the strongest bottling in the series. Whisky Advocate rated it 93 points. The draft-era shorthand that calls Cornerstone "a 9-year rye" undersells it; the 11-year component is half the story.

The 2020 release returned to the debut's 17-year age at the statutory strength the original could not reach: exactly 100 proof (50% ABV), as the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 requires, from a single distillery and a single distilling season, aged in a federally bonded warehouse. It is the only bonded release in the series, priced at $175. Whisky Advocate rated it 94 points.

One married two generations of taste: barrels aged nine and 10 years, reflecting Jimmy Russell's preference for mid-aged bourbon, with 14-year barrels chosen by Eddie. The blend then took a second maturation in new oak barrels that were toasted and charred — the char preserving the straight bourbon designation — before bottling at 101 proof (50.5% ABV), $175, with no age statement. Whisky Advocate rated it 93 points and named it the No. 10 whisky of 2021.

Unforgotten reprises Wild Turkey Forgiven, the blend born when a crew member accidentally mixed young rye into mature bourbon around 2010 and Eddie Russell decided the error was worth bottling. The 2022 tribute is deliberately older: 13-year bourbon blended with 8- and 9-year ryes, finished in freshly dumped rye casks in the distillery's pre-Prohibition Rickhouse B — Jimmy Russell's favorite, by Eddie's own account. Bottled at 105 proof (52.5% ABV) at $200. Whisky Advocate rated it 92 points.

Voyage is a 10-year Kentucky straight bourbon, aged in Wild Turkey's No. 4 char barrels, then finished in casks that previously held 14-year Jamaican pot-still rum — the first rum-cask finish in the distillery's history. The casks were hand-selected by Dr. Joy Spence, Master Blender of Appleton Estate, Wild Turkey's fellow Campari house, making Voyage a collaboration between two masters. Bottled at 106 proof (53% ABV) at $275, it earned 95 points from Whisky Advocate — the series' highest score — and the magazine's No. 5 whisky of 2023.

Released in May 2024, Triumph is a 10-year age-stated Kentucky straight rye with components up to 12 years — per the distillery, the oldest age-stated rye Wild Turkey has ever released, against a house norm of roughly four to six years for its rye stock. Bottled at 104 proof (52% ABV) at $275, it was Eddie Russell's tribute to his son Bruce's affinity for the grain, and only the second rye in the series after Cornerstone. Whisky Advocate rated it 93 points.

Announced September 23, 2025, Beacon closed the series as its tenth U.S. release and the first co-signed by Eddie and Bruce Russell. Each chose a component with personal weight: Eddie's is a 16-year bourbon distilled in 2007–2008 — the last remaining barrels from the original Wild Turkey distillery, which preceded the current facility's 2011 start, aged at the Camp Nelson warehouse campus. Bruce's is a 10-year bourbon from the manual production run he worked in January 2015, a roughly 2,000-barrel batch whose best casks were held back. At 118 proof (59% ABV), Beacon is the highest-proof release in the series, priced at $300. Whisky Advocate's David Fleming rated it 94 points. Beacon is in the vault now.

The critical record · Whisky Advocate scores by release

Ten U.S. releases rated, none below 91. The Australia-only 1894 was not rated.

Scores and Top 20 placements: Whisky Advocate, 2015–2025.

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What was the first Master's Keep release?

Master's Keep 17 Year, released in 2015 at 86.8 proof (43.4% ABV) and $150. Distilled in 1997 and aged partly in another distillery's stone warehouses, its proof fell from a 107 barrel entry to 89 at dumping — and it was Eddie Russell's first release after being named Master Distiller in January 2015.

What is the final Master's Keep release?

Master's Keep Beacon, announced in September 2025. Beacon is a 118-proof blend of 16- and 10-year bourbons selected by Eddie and Bruce Russell, priced at $300 suggested retail, and the first release in the series to carry Bruce Russell's signature.

How many Master's Keep releases are there?

Eleven bottlings in total: ten U.S. releases from the 2015 Master's Keep 17 Year through 2025's Master's Keep Beacon, plus Master's Keep 1894, a 2017 Australia-exclusive edition never sold in the United States.

Is Master's Keep allocated like BTAC or Pappy?

Historically, no — most Master's Keep releases reached retail shelves nationally rather than through lottery-grade allocation. Since the series ended in 2025, remaining bottles trade well above original retail; as of August 2026, specialty listings for most releases sit at multiples of their launch prices.

Is Master's Keep Cornerstone bourbon or rye?

Rye. Cornerstone, released in 2019 at 109 proof (54.5% ABV), is a blend of 9- and 11-year Kentucky straight ryes with no age statement on the label, and was the first rye whiskey in the Master's Keep series.

What does Bottled in Bond mean for Master's Keep?

Bottled-in-Bond is a U.S. legal designation created by the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 requiring a spirit to be the product of a single distillery and a single distilling season, aged at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at exactly 100 proof (50% ABV). The 2020 Master's Keep Bottled in Bond, a 17-year bourbon, is the only bonded release in the series.