Russell's Reserve Private Barrel "Warehouse Q" Bourbon
With their incredible Single Rickhouse series as well as the excellent Russell’s Reserve 13 and their most recent Master’s Keep releases, the Wild Turkey distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky is on a bit of a roll. As far as we’re concerned, this recognition is both well deserved and long overdue. However, despite the high profile of Wild Turkey’s premium releases, our favorite Turkey bottling has long been their Russell’s Reserve Private Barrels. Though Wild Turkey only uses one bourbon mash bill (75% corn, 13% rye and 12% malted barley) they manage to create a wide variety of flavor profiles by differing the aging conditions of their barrels (this is one of the reasons that their Single Rickhouse releases are so impressive). Tasting through samples, it can sometimes be difficult to tell that the barrels are all from the same distiller, much less the same mash bill and production run.
We found an absolute gem of a barrel in this round of samples. Barrel #23-0343 was distilled on 11/7/14 and dumped on 9/20/23 after 8 years and 10 months of aging on floor 4 of Tyrone Warehouse Q (back label includes a distilled in year misprint of 2023 - the distillation was definitely not last month.) The nose opens with notes of fruit punch backed by the signature Turkey dusty/musty wood funk and light scents of clove and allspice. On the palate, flavors of spiced fruit punch lead the way, with pineapple, berry, grape, and light citrus notes followed by clove, mace, and allspice. The midpalate brings chocolate and root beer flavors before a lingering finish of tannic oak, cola, and spice invites you to take another sip. Almost an Old Fashioned cocktail unto itself, we can’t wait for you to taste this delicious barrel!
*Limit Two Per Customer Per Week