Join us for Behind the Scenes, Livestreams, and more: / slbdrinks Merch: slbdrinks.com Follow us on Instagram: / slbdrinks Join us on Facebook: / slbdrinks Email us: slbdrinks@gmail.com
Just FYI: Wild Turkey Rare Breed has been nominated in the OSWAs each year winning Best Non-Malt Whisky in 2021 and 2023 and Best World Whisky in 2023 (other winners in previous years were Redbreast 15 and Redbreast 12 Cask Strength Irish whiskeys). This year it received 1007 votes in the Non-Malt category and 928 votes in the World category.
I think the RB 12 cask strength is way better than WT Rare Breed, but it is also twice the price. I think the Woodford Reserve Double Oaked is a great bourbon but I wish they made a higher proof bottle. Cheers!
Rare Breed, Knob Creek 12 and Old Forrester 1920 are the 3 Whiskeys a person could live with for the rest of your life, if you had to choose only 3. (My opinion)
@@Ona1000 agreed. KC12 is 100 pf and slightly more expensive. The regular Knob Creek 9-year 120pf Single Barrel Reserve (i.e., not a pick with the word "Select" on it) would be the Beam product that fits in the criteria for competition with WTRB (available everywhere, at or near cask strength, under $60).
I hope that this video doesn't change the availability of Rare Breed in the future market. I am on board with the fact that at the $50 - $55 price point, it is perhaps the best value in bourbon. As Trent suggested, it might be nice to see a blind between it and Old Foster 1920, Russell's Reserve Single Barrel, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, and the Rare Breed Uncut Unfiltered. Great show as always. Cheers!
@@TravisB7299 Agreed. ECBP is also usually in a higher price bracket($90-ish for me). Meanwhile Makers CS is usually cheaper than all these($45-ish for me, if I remember correctly).
@shmuckling I'd like to easily find ECBP but I've gotten 1 in the last 2 years. Hard when the bigger store is minimum 30 minutes away or else it's in raffles or $90. I need to give makers cask strength another chance.
I voted for Wild Turkey in both categories. Glad it won. It probably won because overseas in Germany I can get it for 35 euros a bottle. Please do an OSWA tasting. That would be awesome.
I am a Woodford guy, but for my Christmas present, I bought a bottle of Rare Breed. Sipping it now. Wow! You are right on this lighter fluid! Actually it is very good from a flavor profile and on the nose. My esophagus hates me right now, so maybe I will do the next tasting with an ice cube.
Rare breed is my favorite thing I've tried so far. Only been into bourbon about a year. But it ticks all the boxes. It's priced well , it's delicious, widely available and easy to find. It punches way above the price point. I still hunt for some hard to find stuff. I'm sure one day I'll find something I like better. But I bet it won't be as easy to get my hands on.
@@glenhalstead2301agreed. I hate to say it because everyone and their mother compares it to this, but 1920 is bananas foster in a bottle. I guess if someone is crazy enough not to enjoy banana flavor, 1920 wouldn’t be for them. Out of every bourbon I’ve had, including some hard to find unicorns, 1920 is the most viscous bourbon ever; So thick and so flavorful.
Would just like to clarify, OSWAs World Whisky is all excluding Scotch. WT Rare Breed won in Best Non-Malted Whisky and Best World Whisky. This year’s nominees for Best Non-Malted Whisky were Blue Spot 7yo, ECBP, JD Single Barrel Barrel Proof, Loch Lomond Single Grain Peated, WT101 & WT Rare Breed. This year’s nominees for Best World Whisky were Blue Spot 7yo, Indri Trini Three Wood, Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique, Nikka Yoichi, Power’s John’s Lane 12yo & WT Rare Breed. As always thanks for the videos! Fell me into the bourbon rabbit hole from primarily drinking scotch
Kurt, I think you missed your calling in life. You should have been a whiskey salesman. I'll bet Jimmy and Eddie are trying to get in touch with you as we speak to get onboard with the Wild Turkey team! It's 9AM on Monday morning and I can barely keep myself from going to the bar and getting a pour of Rare Breed. Great video. Rare Breed is still $49.99 in Ohio and I always have a bottle on hand. Love it!!
Seeing how it’s always available for a great price certainly doesn’t hurt it in this crazy industry. I’m not a unicorn hunter nor do I have time to camp to try and get something that rarely comes around. If I come across a bottle of something I don’t normally see then yes I’ll get it but for me I can walk into most of the stores in my area and get this and other great bottles at a great price and that makes it worth it. Enjoy!!
God y’all are hilarious when you really lean into the disagreements 😂 I’ve loved this channel since well before Trenton would come on camera, and it’s grown on me so much over time. Thanks for everything y’all put out
I don't know if I would call it the best, but it's always on my shelf, and I very much appreciate a good, accessible, reasonably-priced bottle. Definitely one of my favorite shelfers.
I just bought my first bottle of Rare Breed, and it's some dangerous stuff. It's so good! It's a barrel proof, mid-high proof, easy sipper that drinks way better than its price point and availability. I think it's much better than Maker's Mark Cask Strength, which is good but gets a lot of undeserved love.
Great to see it win 1st place in 2 different categories at the OSWA Awards this year! I voted for it in the non malt category. I like some of the other whiskies in the World Whiskey category, The bottle I bought in Oregon last year for $45 says that it is non chill filtered on the label.
You convinced me to give Rare Breed a try. Got a bottle yesterday and must say I'm quite impressed. One of my favorites now and will stay in my cabinet.
Rare breed ticks all the boxes for me and is easily one of the best bourbons for the price range, availability, proof and it’s delicious. I just hope it doesn’t start flying off the shelves
I agree, Rare Breed has remained available on the shelf in the $50 - $55 price range. For years my No. 1 Bourbon was Henry McKenna 10 yr.; always available for under $30. Then it won the Best-of award and rocketed to $55+ and disappeared from shelves, still hard to find here in WI.
I can get on board with Rare Breed. It’s damn good and everywhere. The others I would put against it would be OF 1920, Knob Creek 9 SiB, and Makers CS. I feel like those are the normal easy to find barrel proof bourbons. And Rare breed is still my favorite of those. I substitute the Knob in for the Bakers because even though Trenton says it’s available I haven’t seen a bottle of Bakers since they changed the bottle design away from the wine bottle, and that has been a few years now at least.
I first had RB about a year ago. Saw it on the shelf and gave it a try. Was never a big Wild Turkey fan. I keep trying to find something that compares or is better at the price point and keep going back to it. Hands down, it has become one of my favorite bottle. When I say this to my friends, they look at me like I may have lost my mind. But when I pour some for them they are quickly sold. I would drink (and be happy about it) any of the other bottles mentioned in this video, but when I have to put my money down on the counter, Rare Breed is coming home with me.
Rare Breed and Four Roses Small Batch Select are two of my hands-down favorites. I am a sucker for Blantons and Eagle Rare and Bookers. I would happily place Rare Breed near the top due the price, the product and availability. Great video guys.
I just picked up my first Rare Breed barrel proof (116.8). Pretty darn good. I've really been enjoying your channel and reviews lately. Especially as a fellow Hoosier. I used to work at a real estate agency in Valpo!
WTRB (Bourbon) has earned a permanent spot in my cabinet despite it not being my all-time favorite. That being said, for the price-point and for the drinking experience from start to finish (not taking into account the flavor profile itself, which is where opinions will always differ), WTRB checks all of the right boxes for a well-balanced bourbon from front of the pallet to the middle and to the back. And from the mouth experience to the way it goes down and the way the warmth rises back up from the belly, this whiskey has it all in my opinion. And as Kurt mentioned, and very important it is to note, WTRB is readily available worldwide and therefore a benchmark by which all great bourbon can be judged.
The best whiskey for me is one that I can easily find, where every dram brings joy, with a higher proof and that doesn't break the bank. Rare Breed is definitely one of those -for me.
I agree with Kurt on the versatility. Rare Breed is the Swiss Army knife of bourbon. It’s very good neat, over a block of ice, with a few drops of water, or even in an Old Fashioned if you’re willing to splurge making a cocktail.
You can get Wild Turkey and Makers Mark in every liqueur store in Australia, lots of the other Bourbons you mention can be hard to find here. That maybe the case in many other countries around the world as well which would help the Rare Breed win.
Interesting video. I recently commented on FB that all I need in life to make a great Manhattan was a bottle of OF100. I have on hand both a WT Rare Breed and OF 1920. So I a/b’d them. Too close to call, but RB has a more prominent toffee nose than OF1920 and a tad smoother on the finish. Both may be more sippable than the av-gas bottle of EC Private Barrel store pick I recently got. But the nose on EC does knock it out of the park. I think this weekend I’ll get my wife to help me blind the WT, OF, EC and a recent purchase Larceny BP C923. Somehow, I feel like the WT will come out on top. Keep up the great content, we enjoy it very much.
WT101 is my "desert island" whiskey. Sure, I can find "better" bourbons, but nothing hits the spot for me on a daily basis like WT101. It is my "favorite" go-to whiskey.
I had never tried any WT Whiskeys and always thought they weren't good quality for whatever reason. From this channel alone, I decided I had to try WT101 and was shocked at how much I liked it. Been my most consumed Whiskey since. The RB is really good but a bit hot to me.
1. Definitely do a tasting of all the winners of OWSA. 2. Trentons idea of the Rare Breed against other distilleries #1 whiskey in a blind taste test is great. 3. Please put a link to those gents you said that you follow. Thanks
Great video, loved the interaction between you both. I will purchase a Rare Breed and try for myself. I will admit that my daily is WT 101 so I might be a bit biased. I would love for Trent to put up a good blind as described in the video. Great job to you both!
Just posted a comment re: my impression of a single pour from a new bottle. I was a bit disappointed after all the good things I've heard. Maybe I just need to let it open up a bit.
The whiskey has been "opening up" for years and years in the barrel, then it was splashed into a trough prior to being bottled. What makes either of you think that a few more weeks or months after you open the bottle is going to change it in any way?
@dnett57 You may be right. Your comment seems logical enough. The only issue is that Kurt and Trenton comment all the time on how they feel that tastes change for bottles over time. I believe I have noted this as well, mostly with scotch, as that is the type I am most familiar with. I have heard this from other reviewers as well. So, we may all be under a collective delusion, or maybe there is something to this. Who knows.
Bottles absolutely do change when they’ve been open for a while - or at least some do. I suspect that the impact is more significant on higher proof bottles (or at least that’s where I’ve noticed it most)
Agree, rare breed is hard to beat! Knob Creek 9 year single barrel select would be good in a blind. It's about the same price as rare breed and 120 proof.
I just sampled the two and I have to go with the KC 9 SBS. For 120 proof it's such a pleasant sipper - maple syrup and dark oak, I wanna poor it over a pancake.
I just bought a bottle of WT Rare Breed. Very excited based on positive comments from multiple bourbon reviews. Have bought Russell's Reserce and WT 101 and have loved them both. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with the Rare Breed. Maybe it was because it was the "neck pour." I'll try it again this week and see how it tastes.
For me personally the king of bourbon would be Woodford Reserve Double Oak, but for people in general and amongst the bourbons with typical flavor profiles, it's definitely Wild Turkey Rare Breed or Russell's 13, depending on whether or not we're factoring in the price. I sure would love a WRDO Cask Strength, though.
Woodford Double Oaked is my favorite too and the availability and price makes it the best value, I never have to go over $45. Even at the lower proof it edges out rare breed for me overall. A cask strength Woodford Double Oaked unfortunately would inevitably be tougher to find and much more expensive though.
Great video / topic guys. Global availability, proof and price is what makes Rare Breed King. And to be honest I have both the standard and NCF version open atm and there is really not alot of difference IMO. Both are fantastic.
100% agree with every well made point you made Kurt! I figure this: with the massive volume of bourbon options out there, the bottles you return to over and over are the ones you truly love! This is always tops for me too!! Enjoyed the show…despite the hazing you got from Trent!
Love y’all’s content! Here’s an add on to Kurt’s idea. Do a blind of the top scotch’s and then line the top American whiskeys from Fred or San Fran. Then blind the top three or two from both to have your overall!
I've only been into whiskey for a little over a year now, and I have to be honest... I thought whiskey was pretty great, I thought I understood what a good bourbon especially should taste like... Then I tried Rare Breed. To me it's head and shoulders better than anything else I've ever tried. It was kind of a shock.
You guys are hilarious! I have to say that Rare Breed is at the top of my list of favorites. Now, I also must say that several other bottles fight for that position depending on the day (night) or occasion.
I have not tried rare breed yet, but I want to. Still early in trying bourbons. Tried WT 101 and liked it. Its a toss up between Rare Breed and Old Forester 1920 as to which will be the first higher proof bottle I get at this point, but I will get both eventually.
Trent missing the whole point of this argument because Rare Breed isn't his favorite. Desperate to undermine awards he's clearly never heard of either. "He just needs to take a seat here for a minute, come on." You said it, Kurt.
I don't consider myself an expert on bourbon, but I just tried WT Rare Breed for the first time and I defiantly side with team Kurt. WT Rare Breed is hands down one of the best tasting bourbons I've tried in this price point. Great recommendation!
The more I put Rare Breed against others in a taste test the more and more I like it. And as an added bonus you don't have to deal with the frustration of it not being available. The more I drink it and the more I compare it the more it is growing on me as a top 5 favorite
Great video boys! WT Rare Breed and OF 1920 are my favorites bottles of all….great juice at reasonable price points. Sorry Trenton doesn’t agree. Bring on the Wild Turkey Friday blind as well as the Scotch blind! Cheers!
WTRB One of best values for sure. At a perfect proof level for me and a bottle I always want on the shelf. Can fit any of these categories- Daily drinker, Friday night pour, impress the guests. Would pick ECBP over it for a special occasion but much harder to find and more expensive
I love Rare Breed and drink it frequently. Mixes so well too. However, for me Kentucky Spirit is my current favorite. Single Barrel and 8 year old. A bit pricey but it’s one fine American whiskey
I bought a bottle of Rare breed on your recommendation drinking it neat and on ice while playing poker and before I knew it I had drank over half the bottle it's a winner in my books I enjoy your videos I did try again to get some Pappy but no more! I was drinking Stranahans from Colorado , before now Rare breed is my go to whiskey, it's available and i can enjoy it, that makes all the difference in the world keep up the good work thanks .
RRSB is better because I like the non-chill filtering. It is $18 more per bottle than WTRB so I can't have a pour as often and it's much harder to find.
Factoring in all aspects of how one would feasibly grade whiskey - Rare Breed is ABSOLUTELY the king in my house. The value is unmatched. They could charge $100 for it and I’d still buy it.
Wild Turkey makes good bourbon and they have good people at the distillery. I always enjoy visiting and often see Jimmy Russell himself there mingling with folks. How great is that?
Agree, saw Jimmy last year in the gift shop waiting for the next visitors to come in. Talked for 15 minutes about life, not much bourbon talk. A picture and a signed bottle always brings a smile.
When I drink a Wild Turkey product on ice, I taste a hint of the same flavor notes that you find in an Old Fashioned cocktail only watered down. There's the sweetness, some citrus, and slight bitterness. I love me some whiskey on ice here in Texas especially during the summertime. Cheers! 🥃
Nice! It just depends on who is “Crowning the King” there are so many choice’s and depending on who you poll and where you poll. That being said it’s a very nice pour!
Wild Turkey 101 was my go-to for years. I picked up some Rare Breed a few years back, and WOW! I always keep a back-up Rare breed. Even tho it's higher proof I don't get the bite that everyone else comments about. To me the 101 has more bite, the Rare breed is just Smooth. Also luv luv luv the Russell reserve straight Rye whiskey (non-chill filtered)
I have only tried maybe 25 different whiskies in my life, so I can't personally proclaim the best in the world. BUT. I will always have a bottle of Rare Breed in my cabinet as it has been my personal favorite for quite some time. Considering its relatively reasonable price the overall value is incredible, in my opinion.
In that price range, I’d throw in a New Riff Single Barrel, OF1920, KC12, and Trenton’s Bakers7 for a five blind trial. I do love the Rare Breed and it’s a frequent visitor of mine.
Rare breed is great for the money, but my favorite wild turkey is still russels single barrel for $60. I get everything rare breed has with some berry on russels. Excellent video ty.
Thanks for the fun video. For my money, though, the best whiskey in the world is always the one I'm enjoying at the moment. I do agree on the non-chill filtering. My only complaint is Rare Breed is overpriced by taxes and importers where I am jacking up the price to unacceptable levels beyond the rare buy.
As for your question about tasting all of the winners I think that would be a fantastic comparison. Also I'd like to see WT 101, WT Rare Breed, WT Long branch and the various Russell's in a comparison back to back. Cheers!
I don't know if it 's the King of Bourbon, but I enjoy it. This is the first spirit that I poured, was walking away, took a sip and it stopped me in my tracks to check the bottle. I did not know it was barrel proof. Not my #1 but it is great great juice.
Kurt is spot on here. Rare Breed is always on my shelf and I can find it at Kroger here in NW Ohio for $49.99. Barrel proof isn’t always my favorite, but the flavors in RB are so delicious and concentrated. Excited to try WT Generations when (or if) it becomes available around here.
The Mash & Drum guy did a 4-way blind of Russell's 13 yr old, Russell's Warehouse D (or whatever it's called), Generations and Rare Breed. He picked the 13 yr as his favorite, Warehouse D in 2nd, Generations 3rd followed by Rare Breed.
This is by far one of my favorite bourbons. Hoping to go to Canada and get a NCF version to compare it to. I enjoy the RR SiB equally but think it can't really compare since Rare Breed is a blend.
I’m new to bourbon as in been trying them for about 2 years now. I’ve tried several highly rated bottles from RU-vidrs. I always come back to wild turkey and wilderness trail products.
I was wondering your thoughts on the cork. I had a Kentucky Spirit break on me. The Rare Breed I have, the cork feels sketchy. Doesn't seem to seal tightly.
So what is the difference between the two Rare Breed bottles? The one Trenton kept bringing out and the standard one here in the states? Do they have different proof points, ages, etc??
