Distillery: Wild Turkey
Proof: 110
Age: 9 Years, 1 Month, 9 Days
Mashbill: 75% Corn, 13% Rye, 12% Malted Barley
BACKGROUND: The Russell's Reserve line is produced by Wild Turkey Distillery. It is named in honor of Jimmy and Eddie Russell who are father and son and have been the master distillers at Wild Turkey with a combined tenure of over 100 years. Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel is aged in #4 char American white oak barrels for about 10 years and hand selected by master distiller Eddie Russell. It is bottled at a higher proof than Russell’s 10 Year. This specific single barrel was privately selected and bottled for Total Wine & More rom Warehouse G, Floor 4
NOSE: The nose is quite light and straightforward with toffee, peanuts, clove, oak, and some tobacco. Overall it is on the lighter side and underwhelming but very smooth and unique. (21/25)
PALATE: As soon as the whiskey touches your lips you are welcomed by one of the most unique whiskey flavor profiles. Fresh mint, vanilla, honey, floral botanicals, and tangerine flavors blend together to form a very enjoyable, refreshing, and sweet whiskey. The 110 proof adds a boldness to the whiskey on the backend but overall it is very smooth, flavorful, unique, and well balanced. It reminded us of a new summer morning watching the sunrise! (37/40)
FINISH: The finish is quite long and continually builds. It start with more minty fresh notes followed by very smooth oak notes and vanilla. There are also notes of light tobacco leaves, white pepper, and hibiscus. The proof also adds a slight tingle on the way down. (23/25)
VALUE: With a $65 SRP this is a delicious and unique whiskey that is well worth it! (8/10)
Overall: 89/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: When I nosed this whiskey I thought I was going to be let down in a big way but boy was I surprised! As a Turkey lover I was shocked by the uniqueness of this barrel of Russell’s. This will be one I savor for a long time!
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Stagg Jr Batch 14
Similar & Equal Whiskey: Manifest Whiskey Project Batch 3
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: Murray Hill Club
Tell us what you think and give us some feedback!
Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away