Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve: Straight Bourbon

2024 Single Rickhouse: Camp Nelson B

MSRP: $299.99

Mash: 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley

Proof: 120.2

Age: NAS

Nose: Tobacco, peanut shell nuttiness, fig, rye toast, molasses, dried apricot, damp old oak, vanilla extract

Palate: pure decadence. The nose follows through perfectly and layers in some of that Turkey funk. Some nice clove spice meets you mid palate. The back of the palate has a hint of orange zest to round it all out

Finish: nice long finish with oak tannin, clove and a nice earthy leather

Rating: Buy it (Out of Hoard, Buy, Try, Pass)

Thoughts: I struggle with these releases so much. These are probably some of my favorite bottlings from Wild Turkey, but the price is insane. You can accomplish at least 90% of this profile with a good Russell's Reserve pick at a fraction of the cost. The rare occasional pick could even match the profile seen here. If you have expendable income, and you want to guarantee you'll get killer Wild Turkey, these releases are the way to go. All that being said, this particular release doesn't have the strong cherry of Russell's Reserve 15yr, the 13yr batch 1, or the 17yr bottled in bond. Those three are my personal favorites from Turkey, and it's important to note that all three were cheaper than the single rickhouse series.