I didn’t learn about Wild Turkey Bourbon from drinking it, I learned about it from watching movies.

In the 1970s and 1980s every tough-guy cop or bad guy was a Wild Turkey drinker, so it was immediately and by association very cool.

In the 1971 blockbuster – “In the Heat of The Night” (watch that sometime it’s really, really good) Rod Steiger is a Wild Turkey drinker, in the TV Series “Justified” the super cool Marshall, Raylan Givens, drinks Wild Turkey too and now I’m a Wild Turkey drinker.

The idea behind Wild Turkey is pretty simple – this is the drink of someone who thinks differently, embraces life and has their own ideas.

At the moment they are running an event – The Spirit Of The Wild at the newly restored and really very nice Terminus Hotel in Pyrmont, where they have teamed up with the Urban Cooking Collective, fronted by Vicki Uriarte, Chris and Cam Grant from Unyoked (the off-grid glamping company) and chef Darren Robertson from Three Blue Ducks in Byron Bay.

The idea behind the evening is pretty simple, they will teach you how to make smoked meats (a kind of magic trick with two terracotta flowerpots) using locally sourced botanicals – like Lemon Myrtle, they will feed you a smoked beef roll (or two or three) and they will teach you how to drink Wild Turkey, their new line Longbranch and how to make cocktails. Including a pretty fabulous new invention called the Long Way Home.

Long Way Home Cocktails. Image via Scott & Co

The night starts either with an introduction to Bourbon drinking and cocktail making or a demonstration of how to smoke meat and then descends into good old fashioned Bourbon drinking.

I tried Wild Turkey 110 (named for its alcohol content) which is a strong and aromatic drink – like decent scotch – but I ultimately gave it away for their new product  – Longbranch – which is much smoother and goes very well with ice.

Longbranch. Image via Scott & Co

You will get brief presentations on people’s passions – Vicki Uriarte on how to smoke meat, salt and fish for less then $50.00, from Chris and Cam Grant on the why and how of their business Unyoked, specifically how to really disconnect from the grid two hours from a capital city and sustainable and natural food cooking from Darren Robertson.

You will also learn about Bourbon, Bourbon cocktails, drinking Bourbon and drinking Longbranch.

Here’s what I learned – if you have three cocktails and five glasses of Longbranch – you will discover that it’s actually a good addition to your drinks cabinet (I really rather liked it) and that you will somewhat ineffective at work the next day.

Want to attend a masterclass?

On-premise Spirit of the Wild masterclasses:

The masterclass series launched on Thursday 15 August in Sydney and will run for three weeks for consumers.

Dates: 22 August, 29 August, 4 September
Location: The Terminus, Pyrmont
Guests at the on-premise events will have the chance to win a night in an Unyoked cabin.
Limited places at the masterclass series are available at a cost of $49 per person.
See HERE for more information and to book a spot.

Other Spirit of the Wild masterclasses will be taking place across Australia in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, please see HERE for more information.

Spirit of the Wild camping masterclass:

Date: Saturday, 21 September
Location: Glenworth Valley, NSW
10 x double passes are available at a cost of $175 per person. All proceeds from the ticket sales will go to an Australian charity partner working for wilderness preservation.
See HERE for more information and to book.

Feature image via Scott & Co