We’re super excited to announce the arrival of our Russell’s Reserve Private Barrel Selection, the first-ever Bottlecraft Single Barrel pick! This Kentucky Straight Bourbon is non-chill filtered, 110 proof and was handpicked by Eddie Russell himself!

Picked from the 4th floor “center cut” of Warehouse B, our barrel was filled on December 9th, 2011, so it’s nearly 9 years old! The Russell’s / Wild Turkey warehouses use traditional aging, meaning  they are wooden rick construction with clad metal siding and exposed dirt floors. There is no temperature control so the barrels are essentially exposed to the weather all year round. It can get over 100 degrees in the summer and drop below freezing in the winter. All of this plays a big role in how the barrel ages. 

Warehouse B is the second oldest warehouse on the property built in the 1910s (pre-prohibition) and holds about 14,000 barrels, much smaller than warehouses built today. Each warehouse is 7 floors tall so the 4th is right in the middle, hence “center cut” which means the barrel was exposed to slightly less temperature fluctuation in the aging process and also means it doesn’t have much water added to it to get to the 110 bottling proof. The Bourbon was Non-chill filtered, resulting in a bourbon with more body and an oily mouthfeel that coats and lingers on the palate.

Russell’s Reserve, a division of Wild Turkey, is headed by Eddie and Jimmy Russell, a father and son team of Master distillers with over 100 years combined experience between the two. What’s more, this release just so happens to on Jimmy Russell’s birthday, happy Birthday Jimmy!