Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel

From the dusty old Wild Turkey rickhouses to the newest and most modern ones, you’ll find a number of excellent bourbon and rye expressions, and here’s the real kicker: all of Wild Turkey’s bourbon products come from a single bourbon mashbill, and the rye products come from a single rye mashbill as well. I guess this only leaves us the one question: do birds of a feather truly flock together? I’ve really got to stop with the Dad jokes…

Russell’s Reserve (Single Barrel) is a 110 proof expression that is stated to be “hand selected” by Wild Turkey’s Master Distiller Jimmy Russell, and his son Eddie Russell. If you’re interested in learning more about Wild Turkey and it’s expressions (or just looking for some great reviews on their products) you may enjoy visiting our friend–and Wild Turkey guru–David at Rarebird101.com.

Nose – Lightly toasted caramel with a touch of honey, then darker caramel. Something like a sweet caramel cream type of candy are all over the front, and a nice lingering bit of baking spice mingling with…wait for it…orange blossom. No, seriously. Orange blossom.

Taste – The mouthfeel gets you. It’s right on point. Soft and almost creamy which accentuates the caramel that was present on the nose. The floral notes mix with a very light bit of oak, and it’s all backed up by some spice that may be cinnamon or nutmeg, or a gentle blend of both.

Finish – This is a rich pour. Sweet and tasty, with a medium-to-long finish that flows between caramel, toasted almond, and mild oak.

The Bourbon Finder Grade: B+

Thoughts – This is complex juice, and for a shelfie it’s a great bottle. Not only is the standard shelf offering great, but there are myriad store/club/group picks out there, sp you should be able to find an excellent bottle of Russell’s Reserve that can go toe-to-toe with almost any single barrel offering out there.

Pick up a bottle of Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel today at Keg N Bottle

Our grading system: As mentioned in our About Us page, we’re excited to share bourbon with our friends, family, and readers. There are enough critics, cynics, and curmudgeons in the whiskey world as it is. Our goal is to foster the bourbon community in a positive way by bringing fun and entertaining content whenever possible, and as such we decided early on that applying precise scores to whiskey was simply too serious for us. We use a simple grade school system to apply a grade to the whiskeys we review because it is indicative of the whiskey’s grade for us on that particular day. A grade of a “B” today may very well be a “B+” or even a “B-” on another day. Pour a bit and enjoy, these are the good old days of whiskey!