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Hand selected by legendary father-son master distillers Jimmy and Eddie Russell, Russell's Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon is renowned for its quality and can still be found more widely than some of the high age stated special releases. Russell's Reserve barrels are pulled from the center cut, the middle 3-5 floors of Wild Turkey's 7-story rickhouses, which get a good balance of fluctuations in temperature and humidity. They don't give much more info beyond that, but if you're interested in Wild Turkey's laser codes you can sus out a few more details. These codes etched into the back of the bottle just a smidge above the base.
LA NA20E1339 - LA codes started in 2024, A20 is January 20th bottling, N is 2025 (M was 2024 - sequential alphabetical), E bottling machine and time of day 1:39PM.
This shelf destined bottle doesn't note the location or barrel number, but we know they were pulling from Tyrone F&G (high spice and leather) and Camp Nelson B (sweet with caramel and vanilla) around that time. Scuttlebutt also says that Wild Turkey was dumping a lot of 10-12 year stocks to try and keep up with the demand, so some early 2025 bottlings have been known to be exceptional across the Russell's series of products. I'm excited to dive into this bottle since I haven't done a turkey tasting since my embarrassingly novice review of the 10YR a few years back.
🛒Sourced: $69.99 at Paces Bottle Shop, GA - 750ml
🧪Proof: 110 proof, 55% ABV - In my sweet spot range
🎨Color: Y6 - sunset yellow, perhaps a little burnt
🥔Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 13% Rye, 12% Malted Barley. Barrel entry proof is 115 where it has been since the increase from 110 in 2006. The exact amount of dilution will differ between barrels, but it will not be very much. Russel's Reserve Single barrels are non-chill filtered and no age stated, though we know the Russells' tend to prefer 8-11 year barrels as peak (even if they do put out some even older stuff on special release e.g. the titan of RR15).
👃Nose: Rich oaky vanilla and caramel, old wood, and creme Crème brûlée.
😜Palate: Heavy wood, somewhat musty with a good amount of vanilla syrup. There are a lot of tannins which lead to a somewhat biting palate and rawkus finish. I get some cinnamon, maple syrup, and toffee. There is alcohol heat but it is an even warming as opposed to an astringent flare. In a panel with more earthy whiskies, I can pick out a ripe blackberry syrup and plum undertone that is quite nice; sad I haven't found it solo to date.
💦Finish: The tannins result in a dryish finish that is more spice heavy, primarily clove and nutmeg. Smacking my lips, I can find some dark chocolate cherry as a pleasant aftertaste.
🏆 Overall: 6.5/10 - Very Good - Wild Turkey has a great product and this bottle shows that easily. Tending towards the wood and earth funk for which Turkey is known, this Russell's Reserve single barrel has a lot of good things going for it. Nice body, great classic flavor profile, and depth in finish are highlights. That being said, there is a really high amount of tannin which makes it overly dry, keeping it from reaching the heights of some other Singles that I've seen.
💵Would buy again? Maybe. I need to try more singles from them but Rare Breed is so hard to top.
⚖️Rating Scale:
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws | Struggle to get through the bottle
4 | Serviceable | Mixing or ice recommended.
5 | Good | Drinkable Neat | An agreeable dram indeed.
6 | Very Good | Any flaws offset by interesting flavors | A cut above.
7 | Great | You find yourself reaching for this one often | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Serve to Impress Guests | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite | You guard this bottle jealously
🙈Blind Tastings:
- 7/10/26 - 1792 Full Proof Select > Green River Full Proof > Russell's Single Barrel
- 5/18/26 - OBSV > Russell's Single Barrel > Green River Full Proof
- 3/30/26 - OBSV > Russell's Single Barrel > Dickel 12