Russell's Reserve 13 Year Bourbon (2023 Release)

Best Wild Turkey I’ve had. Classic bourbon notes amped up.

[5.25.2024] A much-earned (by the family) family trip to Michigan led to a lakehouse visit with some of our favorites. Turns out we share a love for Russell's and broke out a sip of this treasure. This is a bit stiff (think like that raw bite of Stagg Jr.) but I think thats the point. A touch salty brings to mind horse harness sweat leaching through the leather. Oak is more of an aged barrel than that raw greenness coming through in some younger renditions. A solid drink but the right Russell's Single Barrel can trump it.

9/10 Cherry, vanilla, a little bit too astringent of oak, some bitterness. Complex and delicious.

Very sweet and also very dry oak tannins

I’m definitely going to be the outlier. Oddly, this wasn’t for me. I bought a tasting kit that had this plus a few other Russell samples. But admittedly, the only reason I bought the kit was for this sample. The bottle is so difficult to find, and if you do, it’s so expensive. I’ve seen it behind closed glass panes, priced well over $400. In retrospect, so glad I never bought one. Nose is fine—- caramel, vanilla, baking spice It’s the taste that fell apart for me. Just way too oaky and tannic, saccharin tasting. It’s as if this was past it’s prime. Wondering if the kits all got bad samples? Or maybe it’s degraded in quality vs the previous releases? Who know…but based on this pour, I’d not even pay $50