Ounce for ounce, my two favorite legacy American whisky distilleries are, in many ways, polar opposites in terms of their “house styles” – Four Roses, with its beautiful fruit and floral notes, and Wild Turkey, the epitome of big, bold bourbon helmed by an inspirational multi-generational distilling family, the Russells – Jimmy, Eddie, and Bruce. From their standard Wild Turkey 101 to Rare Breed to Kentucky Spirit Single Barrels, Wild Turkey produces some of my favorite bourbons and rye whiskies.
This bottle is one of several new Russell’s Reserve Private Selection single barrels released over the past week by Virginia ABC. Bottled non-chill filtered at 110 proof (55% ABV) and coming in at 9-years-old, this bottle uses the distillery’s standard mash bill, non-GMO corn (75%), rye (13%), and malted barley (12%), is cut to bottling proof using limestone filtered Kentucky River water, is fermented using the original 60+ year-old yeast strain, and is aged in American White Oak number four “alligator char” barrels. This specific single barrel was aged at Camp Nelson D.
Wonderfully viscous in the glass, the bourbon hugs the palate and its aroma profile jumps out of the glass before my nose gets anywhere near it – Dark caramel, toasted brown sugar, vanilla bean, hints of black cherries, punchy oak/barrel char, sweet tobacco, toffee, a rich mélange of baking spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, allspice), honey roasted nuts, and orange peel. There is an antique character to the aroma profile, earthy and musty like walking into an old library. The ethanol is present but much more subdued than I was expecting for the proof.
On the palate the flavors mirror the aromas alongside smoked maple sugar, dried cherries, toasted orange peel, cocoa, and finishing notes of anise and oak tannin bitterness, smokiness, and dark spiced sweetness. They last through a long 13-15-second-long finish with vestiges of flavor lasting far longer.
This is beautiful – a classic Wild Turkey that’s every bit as good as bottles much harder to find including Stagg.
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