Wild Turkey Revived This 156-Year Old Bourbon At An Affordable Cost
Our story begins in 1869, when W.F. Bond inherited his father's distillery and partnered with brother-in-law C.C. Lillard to create Bond & Lillard bourbon. For over a century, this whiskey thrived — even winning the Grand Prize at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair — before Prohibition nearly erased it from history.
Like a lot of pre-Prohibition bourbon brands, B&L never really recovered its place on American liquor shelves... until, in 2017, Wild Turkey, now operating under Campari Group's sprawling spirits empire, decided to resurrect it. Basing the bourbon on the original 1904 judges' notes, they rebuilt the mash bill from scratch, down to the different percentages of the ingredients, then let it age for seven years. After undergoing charcoal filtration to strip away some of the harsher notes, the result is the Bond & Lillard "Batch 1," which, supposedly, should taste precisely like the century-old bourbon.
Even better news than that? At 100-proof and in a 375-milliliter bottle, you can currently get one for around $50. Vanilla-scented on the nose, while citrusy and spicy on the palate, if you're a fan of Wild Turkey, you'll definitely appreciate the oaky and peppery finish of this bourbon, too. Thanks to the charcoal filtration, the resulting juice banks quite heavily on the floral and fruity notes — a far cry from the stiff drinks that you typically get from Wild Turkey.
It's a surprisingly versatile drink
So, what's the verdict among bourbon enthusiasts? Well, opinions are kind of all over the place with this one. One reviewer on Reddit found it balanced with good sweetness playing against black pepper notes, though it drinks hotter than 100 proof suggests it should, while another basically said you'd be better off grabbing Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit (or another bottle from Wild Turkey's roster) since you get twice the volume for comparable quality. Other enthusiasts disagreed, pointing out that the youthful and unbalanced characteristics of Batch 1 disappointed hard and are barely worth the price of admission. Fortunately, the resurrected B&L isn't an entire wash, as Batch 2, released in 2019, showed real improvement once Eddie Russell, the master distiller at Wild Turkey, got involved in barrel selection and blending decisions.
For a half bottle of a bourbon with over 200 years' worth of heritage and history, $50 may feel like an awesome deal for a lot of people. But if you judge your buys on the actual drinking experience... most reviewers agree that you're paying premium prices for middling results. Nevertheless, for bourbon history buffs, the new B&L offers a truly unique drink that's worth a shot (even if your wallet might object to the transaction). With history like this, what else aren't fans aware of in Wild Turkey's lore?