Wild Turkey 8 Year 101 Proof Beyond Duplication New York 4/5qt, c.1968 bottled

Wild Turkey 8 Year 101 Proof Beyond Duplication  New York 4/5qt, c.1968 bottled
The Wild Turkey distillery, then known as Boulevard, was built in 1935 by the Ripy Brothers in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. The Wild Turkey brand name originated around 1941 when some, shared on a hunting trip, was referred to as “some of that wild turkey whiskey.” It is distilled at bottled by the Austin Nicholls company and for many years they had sourced the whiskey from the Ripy’s, but eventually bought the distillery from them in 1972, renaming it in the process. Of almost equal importance, the purchase of the distillery included the contract of legendary master distillery, Jimmy Russell, who started working there in 1954. His name is synonymous with the brand, and his son succeeded him 2015. In 2011 a new Wild Turkey distillery was built on the same site, replacing the original Ripy plant after 76 years.
This is the classic 8 year old expression, bottled at 101 US proof. Although it pre-dates the 1972 purchase of Boulevard distillery by Austin, Nichols & Co, however, the whiskey was still produced there under contract. In 1968 when this was bottled, the Master Distiller was a certain Jimmy Russell, and the distillery was called JTS Brown.