Get the picture folks.
I am sitting rat cheer at my roll top desk with a huge slice of bourbon history staring rat back at me.
On my right I see the visage on the 15 YO bottle of that wonderful old fellow, Pappy Van Winkle. He is puffing on his famous cigar and if ever you want to see a picture of pure self-possession, look no further than the picture of him on the Pappy bottles.
On my left I am reading about Jimmy Russell's 50 years with Wild Turkey and the bourbon bottled for the occasion in his honor.........Tribute. Although I have never met Mr. Russell, I have no doubt that his face ought to be somewhere on the US coinage. The man is an American treasure, just like Pappy Van Winkle.
Twixt the bottles are two identical glasses, slightly tulip shaped they are, with a volume of about 150 ml. Into these glasses I poured about 30 ml of Tribute and Pappy 15. The Tribute is 101 proof, while the Pappy comes in at 107 proof. I will make no adjustments for that proof difference since it is so small.
As you know, one of these is a 'rye' bourbon and the other is a 'wheat' bourbon. In appearance they are virtually identical, a nice robust deep amber/mahogany.
As I nose them they are closer than I would have expected in aroma. I have long considered Tribute to have one of the finest noses in all bourbondom, and so it has. What is a bit surprising to me is that the Pappy is every bit as good, albeit different.
Naturally, the Tribute has some rye sharpness that bleeds over very usefully into some citrus. The Pappy tends more toward the vanilla and maple syrup aromas followed on by a whiff of a fine pair of boots. Both serve up a dose of the barrel that gives the nose some body. Great noses, all both!!
The Tribute is the softest of all the Wild Turkey bourbons in my experience, and probably the driest. This is to be expected, given that it was in the barrel for at least 3 years longer that the other WT bourbons in my experience. While it has a creamy mouthfeel, it is not quite as rich as the WT 8 YO or the 12 YO. Neither does it have the rye bite that belongs to the others. It is as if I am tasting Tribute for the first time here, because it is a quite different bourbon from the others. It really is not as assertive, with more of the subtlety that time in the barrel affords when done well. The finish is moderately long and quite good and glides out with enormous discipline. There is great structure, complexity, and balance in Tribute. It is even better than I remembered!!
Strange to say, but Pappy 15 is more robust than Tribute. I am somewhat at a loss to explain it. It does seem slightly more alcoholic and the finish reflects that. But there is a peppery element at mid-palate that is quite spicy. The upfront sweetness is very different from the 15 YO Old Rip Van Winkle that has passed into history. This bourbon probably has better balance than the ORVW 15 YO, but also lacks some of that wonderful vanilla sweetness in the ORVW which forever tickles our fancy. Still, it is a different bourbon altogether and stands on it own merits, which are legion.
I find myself in the wonderful position of saying that both these bourbons belong in the 'great' category and neither is the superior of the other.
The Tribute costs about $90 when it was available, while the Pappy 15 is still available for about $50. Neither of these is an inexpensive bourbon and for people who cannot spend that kind of money for a 'luxury', I can offer no solace other than to say that as someone said of photographs of the Grand Canyon, all the pictures (bourbons) are good, it is the nuances that make the difference. We goes with what we has and hold it agin no one if they gots better!