Wild Turkey Bourbon Small Batch Longbranch

Wild Turkey Longbranch ($39.99) is a small batch Kentucky straight bourbon developed by Wild Turkey associate distiller Eddie Russell in collaboration with actor Matthew McConaughey. It uses Wild Turkey's high-rye mash bill, is aged eight years, and is then filtered through American white oak and Texas mesquite charcoal. The mesquite filtration softens the high-proof character of the 101 line without stripping the underlying caramel, vanilla, and dried orange peel. Bottled at 86 proof for a more approachable pour. Browse the full bourbon collection for adjacent picks.

Same distillery and same general mash bill family, but different intensity. Wild Turkey 101 ($32.99) is bottled at 101 proof with no charcoal filtration — an assertive, high-rye, oak-forward bourbon best suited for Old Fashioneds and neat sipping with a few drops of water. Longbranch is bottled at 86 proof and filtered through mesquite charcoal, which softens the spice and the proof for a more approachable, more cocktail-friendly pour. Longbranch is the smoother, more pourable Wild Turkey; the 101 is the workhorse high-proof flagship.

Yes — Longbranch is one of the best value picks for batched Mint Juleps and warm-weather bourbon cocktails. The 86 proof carries through the crushed-ice dilution of a julep without overwhelming the mint, and the mesquite-softened spice doesn't fight the sugar in the mint syrup. At $39.99 a bottle, a single 750mL makes roughly 12 single-pour juleps. We featured Longbranch in yesterday's Memorial Day Mint Julep Bar Guide for that exact value-pour reason.

Yes — it's an excellent Father's Day pick for the dad who likes bourbon but doesn't want the proof of a high-rye flagship. The McConaughey story gives the gift an immediate hook, the mesquite filtration is a genuinely interesting production detail, and the $39.99 price point puts it firmly in the daily-pour bottle category rather than the trophy-allocation category. We covered Longbranch in the under-$60 daily-pour section of our Father's Day Bourbon Gift Guide Preview; for purpose-built gift sets, browse /collections/fathers-day-bourbon-bundle.

Wild Turkey Longbranch is distilled and aged at the Wild Turkey distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, in operation since 1869. Eddie Russell — son of legendary master distiller Jimmy Russell, who's been at the company since 1954 — leads the daily distilling and developed the Longbranch expression. The Texas mesquite charcoal filtration is the McConaughey-influenced detail, but the bourbon itself is fully Kentucky-distilled and Kentucky-aged. For the premium step-up in the same Russell family of bourbons, Russell's Reserve 10 Year ($57.99) is Eddie Russell's older-stock, lower-proof premium line.

For Father's Day Sunday June 21, the full UPS Ground window is open — order by Tuesday June 16 for most metros to ensure Friday delivery. For Memorial Day Monday May 25, the UPS Air window has already closed; Saturday and Sunday orders will land Tuesday at the earliest. Our Saturday courier-and-Tuesday-arrival options for Memorial Day are covered in detail today's Friday Final Call piece and our Thursday Last-Call piece. Adult signature required at delivery; the package will not be left on the porch.