Wild Turkey 1855 Reserve

Distillery:		Austin-Nichols
Age:		Blend of 6, 8 and 12-year-old whiskies
Proof:		Varies
Price:		N/A

1855 Reserve Batch. No. W-T-10-92 

Wild Turkey Rare Breed is a blend of 6, 8 and 12 year-old whiskies that was launched in 1991 with
batch W-T-01-91. Why am I talking about Rare Breed when this is a post about 1855 Reserve? 1855 Reserve is simply an export label for Rare Breed and so these are, for the most part, identical bourbons. The name "1855 Reserve" refers to the year that the Austin Nichols was founded. 

Nevertheless, there is not a complete overlap between Rare Breed and 1855 Reserve. The first batch of 1855 Reserve had no corresponding batch of Rare Breed and only certain of the subsequent batches of Rare Breed became batches of 1855 Reserve. 

The first batch of 1855 Reserve was released in 1992 with the batch number W-T-10-92 and at 110.0 proof. No batch of Rare Breed shares this batch number and, further, no batch of Rare Breed was released in 1992. Given that Rare Breed batch W-T-02-91 and 1855 Reserve batch W-T-10-92 share the same proof, it is possible that these are the same bourbons, but, as batches W-T-01-95 and W-T-02-95 of Rare Breed share the same proof even though they are different bourbons, the case is far from settled. 

Interestingly, the batch number for the first release of 1855 Reserve doesn't follow the pattern of Rare Breed batch numbers. Rare Breed batch numbers are composed of the letters "W" and "T" followed two sets of  two digit numbers (e.g., W-T-01-91). The second set of digits corresponds to the year the bourbon was batched and the first set of digits correspond to the batch number for that year (starting over at 01 each year). For example, batch W-T-01-91 was the first batch of 1991. The first batch number for 1855 Reserve, however, started with batch 10 even though it was the first batch of 1992.

In the subsequent years, 1855 Reserve was released only occasionally. Batches were released in 1994, 1995 and 1996.

The following is a complete list of Rare Breed and 1855 Reserve batch numbers. Batch numbers were discontinued in 2014. 

Year	Label	Batch Number	Proof
1991	Rare Breed	W-T-01-91	109.6
1991	Rare Breed	W-T-02-91	110
1992	1855 Reserve	W-T-10-92	110.0
1993	Rare Breed	W-T-01-93	110.8
1993	Rare Breed	W-T-02-93	Unknown
1993	Rare Breed	W-T-03-93	111.4
1994	Rare Breed	W-T-01-94	112.2
1994	1855 Reserve	W-T-01-94	112.2
1994	Rare Breed	W-T-02-94	109.6
1994	1855 Reserve	W-T-02-94	109.6
1995	Rare Breed	W-T-01-95	109
1995	1855 Reserve	W-T-01-95	109
1995	Rare Breed	W-T-02-95	109
1996	Rare Breed	W-T-01-96	108.8
1996	1855 Reserve	W-T-01-96	108.8
1997	Rare Breed	W-T-01-97	108.6
1999	Rare Breed	W-T-01-99	108.4
2003	Rare Breed	WT 03RB	108.2