The Wild Turkey 101 swap runs one way

The point. Here is the thing worth knowing before you reach for it. Hand a Wild Turkey 101 drinker an Eagle Rare 10 and they get about 92% of what they already like. Hand an Eagle Rare 10 drinker a Wild Turkey 101 and they would pay only 79% of what their own bottle costs, marking it down mostly for being stronger. Two bottles, one swap, and it only really carries in one direction.

What its neighbours' drinkers would pay. Start with what the drinkers of the bottles nearest it would pay for a Wild Turkey 101, each beginning from what they pay for their own. Their answers run from $73 to $78. The Eagle Rare 10 drinker sits at the top of that: about $78, which is 79% of what their own bottle costs, marked down for being stronger and younger than theirs. Turn it around and a Wild Turkey 101 drinker puts an Eagle Rare 10 at about 92% of their own, marked down for being lighter in strength and older than theirs. At $78 this week, Wild Turkey 101 sits inside what those drinkers would give for it.

The bottle. Wild Turkey 101 opens like the start of a conversation: cotton candy, a thread of campfire smoke, cinnamon, a note of pilsner beer, butterscotch and vanilla, all leaning toward balance and easy sipping. Mid-palate a whole drawer of baking spice turns up, clove and nutmeg and vanilla and cinnamon and allspice, and it charms. Toward the end the approach softens, with a muted brown sugar coming through. It is a fun sipper and a good bottle to build a cocktail on.

The stand-ins.

1792 Small Batch, usually around $84. To a Wild Turkey 101 drinker it gives about 96% of what the Wild Turkey does, for a little more money. It is nut-forward, toasted walnuts and pecans and Brazil nuts, then a lovely odd spice arrives, smoked hatch chiles beside cinnamon, créme brûlée and orange and toffee. We have seen it from $78 to $90.

Eagle Rare 10, usually around $99. To a Wild Turkey 101 drinker it gives about 92% of what the Wild Turkey does, for more again. It drinks bigger and older than its label, maple and toffee giving way to firm mint and dried fruit, then polished leather, roasted nuts and dry oak, with a long spicy finish. We have seen it from $85 to $104.

Who it's for. If Wild Turkey 101 is already your bottle, then at $78 this week it is doing exactly what you keep it around for, on the bench or in the glass. If you drink Eagle Rare 10 and fancy a change, the Wild Turkey will read as the stronger, younger pour, and you would still put it at about $78. If you want the closest match without leaving the style, 1792 Small Batch at about 96% is the one to reach for, a touch more money for a nuttier, spicier take. So which way does your own swap run, up the range or straight across it?