BuffTurkey. Russalo Hint. Wild Buffalo. The most popular whiskey in the marketplace—Wild Turkey bourbon distilled by Buffalo Hint—has a number of portmanteau monikers, and much more alleged origin tales. The main lore? An expert sports activities franchise proprietor from the South received a nationwide championship and commissioned these barrels earlier than forgetting about them. Others say Campari Group confronted manufacturing woes throughout growth of a then lately bought Wild Turkey and tapped Buffalo Hint to assist, however didn’t love the completed product.
Additionally shrouded in thriller is the manufacturing run’s ultimate volumes. Trade scuttlebutt varies extensively, from a scant 600 barrels to an eye-watering 10,000 barrels. The latter appears unbelievable, as that may symbolize three to 4 straight weeks of continuous manufacturing by Buffalo Hint. A thousand barrels, insiders inform me, is probably; that may require solely two manufacturing days.
How BuffTurkey Was Made and Bought
Whereas we are able to’t formally verify the genesis or the yield—each Buffalo Hint and Wild Turkey declined requests to remark for this story—a number of BuffTurkey manufacturing details are indeniable.
In March 2009, Buffalo Hint distilled a mashbill of 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley—the quintessential Wild Turkey mashbill—and entered that liquid into No.-4 char Worldwide Stave Firm barrels. (Whereas that mashbill is Wild Turkey, the yeast and grains had been each Buffalo Hint.) These barrels matured for no less than 14 years at Wild Turkey, at which level the group at Wild Turkey determined the style—decidedly good and missing faults—was not on profile for its merchandise.
The fruits of this endeavor had been then bought to brokers, and mostof it was snapped up by non-distilling producers (NDPs) and delivered to market beneath numerous labels and barrel golf equipment. Practically two dozen separate labels containing BuffTurkey bourbon—starting from 14 to 16 years—have hit the market, sometimes priced between $250 and $399.
Individuals are rabid for this liquid; bottlings are setting astronomical information on the secondary market, with some transferring for a staggering $2,500 per bottle.
What Bottles Include BuffTurkey Bourbon?
“That is the business’s worst-kept secret,” one distillery government who had a hand in gross sales of BuffTurkey tells me anonymously, attributable to stiff non-disclosure agreements. “All it took was one barrel head getting on the market, then it hit Reddit, then folks went nuts. Now, there’s an assumption that each NDP bottle with a 75/13/12 mashbill is BuffTurkey. Not true. There’s 15 yr Wild Turkey and 15 yr Jim Beam on the brokerage market proper now, too. Customers want to know what they’re truly shopping for.”
What’s confirmed BuffTurkey? On no account is that this a complete record, however the next labels and/or manufacturers make the most of BuffTurkey bourbon: Bluegrass Elkwood Reserve 15 yr previous, S.N. Pike’s Magnolia, New Period Whiskey and Spirits, The Whiskey Blendery’s 16 yr previous Greased Lightning, River Roots, Seelbach’s, Darkish Arts Whiskey Home, Augusta’s Buckner’s 15 yr previous, Nashville Barrel Firm, and OKI 16 yr previous.
What Does BuffTurkey Style Like?
Largely scrumptious. Researching this story, I attempted greater than 30 examples of BuffTurkey blends and single barrels, at proofs that vary from 96 to hazmat ranges of 140 and above. It’s off-profile for Wild Turkey and Buffalo Hint merchandise, so don’t anticipate to style one thing near Russell’s Reserve 15. (Or George T. Stagg, Buffalo Hint’s restricted providing that’s a minimal of 15 years). However you’ll be thrilled; it’s distinctive 15 yr previous Kentucky bourbon.
“It has a signature profile. To me, that’s a dusty Wild Turkey,” says Macaulay Minton, president and chief alchemist of Darkish Arts Whiskey Home. “The casks differ, some are clearly higher than others. Most have a cherry cola word, a lot of it’s pretty candy; nothing is simply too drying,” says Minton, who bought dozens of BuffTurkey barrels. “Loads of it’s greater proof, which alters the flavour profile of what I used to be anticipating.”
But a lot of the upper proof BuffTurkey drinks far softer and could be very approachable. One in every of Minton’s Darkish Arts 15 yr previous single barrels I attempted was 140.2 proof—although it drinks nearer to 110—and has a deep macerated berry nostril, with an exceptionally enjoyable bitter cherry sweet end. S.N. Pike’s Magnolia 16 yr previous Single Barrel is a velvety caramel bomb that explodes with cherrywood notes towards the top, however you’d by no means guess it’s 141 proof. Seelbach’s Professional 2025, a 15 yr single barrel providing clocking in at 126.6 proof, drinks under 100 proof, with a sugared cherry nostril, tremendous luscious and creamy on the palate, and 0 burn on the end, which is darkish chocolate-covered cherries.
One Darkish Arts 15 yr previous single barrel, dubbed “Omnia Vanitas”, chosen by luxurious pattern bottle firm Liquid Ministry, is beautiful. The entrance of your tongue tingles with an enormous pop of cherry jam that strikes into honey drizzled cornbread, one of the best mixture of candy assembly savory. Savoring the intensive jammy end, I look on the proof: 141.4. I used to be sure this was round 100. Liquid Ministry’s bottle will make you rethink every thing you imagine about hazmat whiskey.
Pattern after pattern, model after model, largely, the liquid delivers. All are fairly moist and chewy, with a great heft to the liquid. All sip far under their proof factors. There are misses, however that’s true of any decent-sized manufacturing run. It’s no shock, then, that throughout bourbonite social teams and barrel golf equipment, whispers turned to shouts and the BuffTurkey hype practice barreled away from the station.
The Swelling Cult of BuffTurkey
Indicators of BuffTurkey fervor abound. Devoted boards have sprung up, secondary market members put up concerning the bourbon’s prevailing iconography (the buffalo adopted by the turkey icon) in digital discourse. Ardent debates about whether or not new liquid, for instance, Praedictum Whiskey, is BuffTurkey have dozens of sparring feedback (alas, Praedictum shouldn’t be BuffTurkey). Manufacturers and bottles obtain truncated, cutesy aliases—River Roots turns into RiRo—after which are dissected and ranked. Manufacturers that launched supremely brief barrels, 30 bottles or fewer, have followers monitoring the whereabouts of every bottle, noting when one sells, that are open, and who owns the remaining stock.
One NDP launched completely on the again of BuffTurkey: New Period Whiskey and Spirits (NEWS), in Lexington, Kentucky. Matt Hobbs and his enterprise associate Zane Brammell had been individually operating profitable barrel selecting teams once they determined to group up and launch New Period final fall. When determining preliminary choices, “we tasted 60 barrels [of BuffTurkey]. 90% had been good; 20% had been nice,” says Hobbs. “We knew this was it.”
The duo secured a microloan from family and friends, sufficient to safe 10 barrels and set to work promoting these. “It was actually a sluggish takeoff,” Hobbs remembers. “Individuals thought it was gimmicky. However then they began touchdown, the FOMO hit, and abruptly each [barrel picking] group that purchased one from us bought out instantly.”
After going again to the dealer twice for extra stock, New Period bought 16 barrels of BuffTurkey inside three months. “Ever since, it’s been folks continually reaching out to us,” Hobbs says. (Earlier than you comply with swimsuit and e-mail, New Period’s BuffTurkey is lengthy gone, although the NDP now has different sourced whiskey.)
Each pedestal invitations its stones. “Absolute dumbest factor on this passion at the moment,” fumes one discussion board commenter. “Timeline full of nothing however [BuffTurkey] rubbish.” Condemnations focus on retail costs and secondary market valuations, notion of the liquid’s high quality, and (uncorroborated) beliefs that manufacturers are shilling inside resale teams to inflate valuations.
Relating to all that ire, the distillery government I spoke to laughs. “Whether or not it’s contract distilled or not, I’ve by no means seen extra folks disputing wanting 15 yr previous Buffalo Hint,” he says. “These Web snobs claiming it’s not that particular are the identical individuals who nonetheless chase allotted Buffalo Hint merchandise.”
Standing Aside From the Competitors
In an area more and more crowded with homogeneous costly bourbon, bottle packaging and design is significant to standing out. “Excessive-quality releases grow to be much more enticing when the presentation is there,” says Mel Joye, co-founder of Liquid Ministry. “Our Darkish Arts 15 yr previous single barrel deserved an elevated stage of customization, and the theme ‘All is Self-importance,’ [‘Omnia Vanitas’ in Latin] was used for example that idea.”
Joye is a fan of Darkish Arts’ branding aesthetic and sought solely to enrich it. “We designed customized label overlays to match the killer matte black and copper foil labeling,” Joye says, noting these had been laser lower to suit atop the present label. A bespoke canvas neck ring with metallic bindery screws was added, to show the decide’s Omnia Vanitas identify.
“Everyone loves a trinket,” says Joye, so a small mirror on a metallic keychain to symbolize the theme of self-importance was fabricated. “The important thing chains had been constituted of a sequence of components we present in native craft shops, every custom-made on our laser engraver. The internal mirror is etched on the again facet after which painted black to point out the Darkish Arts emblem via the glass.”
Lastly, these copper wax drips across the entrance of the bottle? “A glue gun, wax, and a beer can to get the curvature excellent,” Joye grins. Impeccable in type and end, Omnia Vanitas embodies the head of bottle design.
What’s BuffTurkey Value?
A lot of the net chatter surrounds the pricing and valuations of BuffTurkey bottles. The retail worth, above $250, is pushed by steep barrel pricing from brokers and distributors. Then there’s usually an upcharge for perceived desirability, leading to pricing that’s all around the map. Count on pricing to maintain rising: “These barrels are gone. The tactic is gone. These are as soon as in a lifetime bottles,” says Minton.
“The market is heading in a route the place individuals are not shopping for rather a lot, however they’re shopping for ‘higher,’” says Rob Bralow, proprietor of Blue Streak Wine in New York Metropolis. Bralow partnered with Shawn Kim, proprietor of 120 West 58th Road Wine and Liquor in NYC, to separate a single barrel of Seelbach’s 16 yr previous BuffTurkey. “I used to be initially towards it, because it’s so costly,” says Bralow, “however Kim made the primary style and it’s a banging whiskey.”
“Our distributor had 5 choices to style from, and we bought the one barrel in New York Metropolis,” says Kim, noting the remaining bought in upstate New York. “That regional exclusivity helps make it extra enticing, and helps us justify the worth,” Kim says, sharing {that a} single barrel prices greater than $20,000. The duo’s shared barrel is brief, about 100 bottles in whole. “That’s comforting, since we have to promote this rapidly to make the money make sense,” says Bralow. “It’s onerous transferring 250 bottles at $350 apiece,” provides Kim.
The pinnacle-scratching second, for many, is when the bottles hit the secondary market. Take New Period’s famed The Coronary heart bottle, dubbed as such after Hobbs’ fiancée drew chalk hearts on the barrel in the course of the choice course of so it wouldn’t get misplaced. “It was 145.2 proof and a really brief barrel, solely 23 bottles,” says Hobbs, including that he nonetheless needed to pay the total barrel worth. “It retailed at $499.99, and we misplaced cash on each bottle.”
The Coronary heart bottle is now transferring for greater than $3,500 on secondary boards, getting traded for the likes of Pappy Van Winkle 23 and Michter’s 20 yr olds. Liquid Ministry’s Darkish Arts Omnia Vanitas bottle is flipping for $2,000. River Roots bottles are transferring above $1,350. And costs for every proceed to climb. It’s onerous to say the place the secondary ceiling is, given a restricted provide that can solely dwindle over time.
The Way forward for BuffTurkey
Whereas the majority of the BuffTurkey made has been bottled and bought—“I feel 70% has already hit the market,” says my distillery government supply—I’m conscious of a number of NDPs holding onto barrels for later releases. Greater corn and malt percentages within the mashbill imply BuffTurkey can mature longer with out turning astringent.
“One other 15% will likely be launched when it’s 18 or 19 years, and the remaining 15% will likely be aged 20-plus years,” predicts the distillery government. “In warehouses with low humidity, on a decrease rickhouse shelf, [this distillate] may go for twenty-four or 25 years and nonetheless yield 60 to 70 bottles. Somebody will try this.” Think about these retail and secondary costs?
Wish to get your fingers on a bottle now? It’s more durable however not unimaginable, notably when you’ve bought deep pockets. “Given the completely different high quality floating round, don’t simply purchase at first sight,” says Minton, whose Darkish Arts Lexington tasting room opens this month. With greater than 2,000 bottles of BuffTurkey, from 20 barrels, his area represents a strong start line for attempting the liquid earlier than shopping for blindly.
