Bourbon takes time, and with almost a
century of combined experience, our master
distillers know that better than anyone.

It starts when the master distiller selects the corn, rye, and barley malt for distilling. We use only the best ingredients at the Wild Turkey Distillery. We won’t use anything but our specially grown, non-GMO grains, which are quality tested at four separate times.

We use non-acidic, limestone-filtered water straight from the Kentucky River to cook the grains during this stage. The limestone filters out iron, purifying the water for a better flavor. Once the malted barley is added, we introduce our sour mash – a previously fermented mash that still contains live yeast – to start a new fermentation process.

It’s the yeast that turns the starch into sugar, giving Wild Turkey its full, rich flavor. Yeast is added to the corn, rye, and malt to create our yeast mash. Our yeast strain is unique to Wild Turkey, and we house the original strain in our distillery.

The liquid mash is pumped into a continuous still. It’s vaporized at a high temperature, turned back into a liquid, and distilled all over again, creating the smoothest bourbon without sacrificing flavor.

After distillation, the spirit is poured into superior-quality American White Oak barrels with the deepest No. 4 “alligator” char. And we barrel our bourbon at a lower proof, so by the time it’s finished aging we can add less water than other whiskey makers before bottling. That allows Wild Turkey to retain the true, rich flavor and deep auburn color it acquires from the barrel.

Once the barrels are filled, they’re stored for aging. Starting at two years, we taste our bourbon annually until its fully matured. We age our whiskey longer than most distilleries, giving it the time it needs to develop its distinctive, rich flavor.

Only the master distiller can decide when a barrel is mature enough for bottling. On his command, the bourbon is dumped, filtered and bottled, ready for you to enjoy.