Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel (Gates Circle pick) FINAL SCORE 82/100 Vital Statistics: Distillery/Blender: Wild Turkey Distilling Co. Category: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Age Statement: NAS, at least 2 years Proof: 110 Mash bill/blend: 70:13:12, Corn:Rye:Barley Tasting Date: 05/11/2018 Nose: 17/20 Butterfinger candy bar, sweet and rich. Jersey sweet corn. Maple, pecan praline, vanilla. Syrupy and buttery-sweet, like a sweet cornbread with bits and pieces, draped in butter and drizzled damp with Aunt Jemima. Fruity esters beneath manifest mostly as prunes, with a heady mace-like spice. After a bit, that tart corn distillate nose is discernable, with an additional waxy, candy corn top note. Higher proof seems evident, but the aroma brings anticipation and is enough to enjoy nosing on its own, though it loses points for the drift towards waxy candy corn as it sits. Initial Taste: 11/15 Spicy and surprisingly oaky-tannic, with an astringent pucker and acidic tang. It’s not what I expected. Tannic and spicy, quite phenolic. Body/Mouthfeel: 8/10 Although there’s a lot of oakiness here, there’s also a big load of both cream and spice. The combination is very exciting and satisfying, providing both a fun ride, and a long one, that delivers a very complete sensory experience without too many peaks or valleys. Taste: 13/15 After chewing it a bit, the deeply tannic and phenolic oak and tang persist, but as strong undercurrents to a wave of buttered yellow sweet corn on the cob. Exhaling through the nose, there’s a sense of deep char, as if the corn on the cob had been fire-roasted in the husk, “Indian-style” directly on the firey coals. This balance is very dynamic, nearly a clash of two intense flavor fronts, but instead, they function together as a devastating tidal wave of flavor that overtakes your palate and penetrates even into your sinuses! Finish: 17/20 Endless. There’s gumbo as the main course, and it gives a spicy cayenne and peppercorn heat that sustains, begging another bite of buttered corn. For desert, though, after the last bite of gumbo, there’s peach cobbler, skin-on peaches baked soft, and covered in perfectly bronzed lardy biscuit batter dollops with a sprinkle of brown sugar. The spice from the last bite of gumbo hangs around all through dessert. Value: 8/10 A flavor bomb, being smooth in the right ways, with enough kick, holler, and hoot to make it a party, and all for about $50? Yes please every day. I’d say the only competitor her would be the likes of KC Single Barrel, or WT Rare Breed, maybe Noah’s Mill, that I know of. Overall: 8/10 I can’t say anything is left to be desired here. It delivers, and it over-delivers. Perhaps the oaky phenolics are too much for some, especially if you’re used to the average Russell’s, or other single barrel picks. I suspect the extra-dominant oak flavor is particular to this barrel pick, but I do think it stops an otherwise butter bomb from potentially getting boring. Each sip begs another. If you want a ride, and a bit of challenge, like you’d get from the phenolics of an Islay, but nothing out of bounds or imbalanced, this fits the bill.