robertmaxrees
Russell's Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
May 16, 2020 (edited August 7, 2020)
Nose: Beautiful charred oak, vanilla, and buttered bread. Hits of nutmeg, cocoa, clove, cinnamon, and molasses. The rye in the mash bill is coming through beautifully, too, with rosemary, thyme, and maybe a touch of dill. Banana, strawberry, and cherries. For something at 110 proof, the nose is surprisingly gentle and approachable.
Palate: Classic - oak, brown sugar, and vanilla. Baking spices from the nose come through, but presenting much more assertively. Hershey's process cocoa, camphor. Tannin is absolutely evident, both in taste and texture, but not overpowering. Mouthfeel is medium-light. Finish begins wish an excellent wash of mint, vanilla, black pepper, baking spices, chocolate, and rye spice. The tannin swells up and most of the flavors start to fade, though the mint transforms into an almost wintergreen character. A slightly creamy characteristic pokes in, and then everything slowly fades. Very slowly. There's some good oil content here, lending to a long finish.
Other notes: I keep saying it, Wild Turkey is turning out some excellent examples in the different categories they deal in. Is this unusual or doing something different with the Bourbon template? No. But it does serve as a top-tier example of what the category is capable of when you refine and hone your distilling and maturation processes to a high degree. This has high rebuy potential for me.
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