Russell's Reserve Private Barrel Selection

I decided to do a blind with Russell's 10 year, Wild Turkey Rare Breed and Russell's Reserve Private Selection. I poured all the glasses, let them rest for 20 to 30 minutes mixed the glasses up, closed my eyes mixed them up again. The first glass I picked up... I was like this is Russell's 10, the second glass I picked up I was like I'm pretty sure this is Wild Turkey Rare Breed and the third glass I picked up I was like yeah this is Russell's Private Selection. Lol I've never had such an easy blind. I guess it helps to have the same distiller with a different quality product. RR10 almost has a tangy light cherry and a little smokey nose. Taste is more subdued than the others carmel, ethanol cherry ends in a lighter cherry numb finish. This one has opened up since I bought it last year so I give it 4. Wild Turkey Rb has more of that wild turkey tangy nose we all know, cherry vanilla stronger and fuller than the 10. Taste also has that wild turkey tang but more complex and full bodied. Very smooth carmel and medium cherry. More of a sweet finish and a lighter numb. Very good stuff especially after the RR10. I give it a 4.25. Now we got the Russell's reserve private selection store pick...nose has less of the tang but sweeter and more cherry. Taste is a cherry bomb, super smooth but still strong, less of the Wt tang, good stuff!! This one is the winner with 4.5 but WTRB is no slouch.

Kroger Wine & Spirits pick Barrel No. 22-0915 Warehouse CN-B; Floor 6 Distilled - 05-09-2013 Dumped - 06-08-2023 Bottled - 07-17-2023 Age - 10 years, 30 days Open 6 weeks Nose - Bitter oak tannins, dry cinnamon, black pepper, light caramel, clove, burnt vanilla, musty hay, and medium ethanol. Palate - Odd combination of oily and drying, unsweetened gingerbread, peppercorns, toffee, and toasted marshmallow. Finish is medium-long with strong bitter and dry oak, freshly cracked peppercorns, ginger, cinnamon, and strong ethanol. Who knew I could walk into a Kroger liquor store in Northern Kentucky and find a 10+ year Russell's pick for $15 less than nearby independent stores? The stores seemed to have a terrible selection, but surprisingly had multiple barrel picks and batches of Elijah Craig, Russell's, Wild Turkey, Knob Creek, Booker's, and more that are typically harder to find and more expensive in nearby locations. Maybe this was sitting on the shelf is because it isn't very good, arguably the worst Russell's pick I've had. On first crack, I would've given this a 2.5-2.75. Thankfully it mellowed out. It was harsh, tannic, and oddly off-profile. It's lacking the classic caramel and vanilla from most Wild Turkey products. I'll still take a chance on other Kroger picks if they're less money, they all can't be bad.

The Party Source pick, "Shady's Pick" Barrel No. 21-0117 Warehouse K; Floor 4 Distilled - 12-26-2012 Dumped - 09-20-2022 Bottled - 10-12-2022 Age - 9 years, 8 months, 25 days Open 7 weeks Nose - Hot cinnamon buns, caramel, hint of nutmeg, cherry bubble gum, light minerality, medium oak spice, and medium ethanol. Palate - Honey Nut Cheerios, sweet grain, ginger snaps, brown sugar, medicinal cherry, white pepper, baking spices, and sweet oak. The finish is medium-long with drier and tannic oak, black pepper, dried stone fruits, grainy caramel, toast, and medium ethanol. This is where I dock it 0.25-0.5 points, and it was a cleaner finish earlier in the bottle. Apparently RR picks are really hard to find now, at least in the Ohio/Kentucky area. The prices reflect that in Kentucky, where RR is >$20 more than state controlled liquor. But I walked into the store and saw only 2 of these left, and the manager said they were just released and sold like crazy. I wish I bought both of them despite the price. It's the best RR pick I've had. A good Russell's pick is hard to beat. Maybe because it's the oldest one I've had? Generally they are 8-9 years old, while this is closer to the 10-year age statement of the entry Russell's 10.

On The Rocks pick, "Bruce Russell for Buddy's" Barrel No. 22-0715 Warehouse T; Floor 4 Distilled - 12-10-2013 Dumped - 10-20-2022 Age - 8 years, 10 months, 20 days Open 4 months Nose - Caramel, butterscotch, funnel cake, cinnamon, clove, shortbread, light oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - Fresh cinnamon bun that forgot to add enough brown sugar and frosting, rye bread, dill, chair leather, chewy caramel, medicinal cherry, and cereal grain. Finish is medium with sweet oak, baking spices, burnt marshmallow, unripe stone fruit, and light ethanol. This one started mediocre, but got much better after a week or two of being open. I'm at the point where if I see a Russell's store pick at a reasonable price, I buy it no questions asked. Even a lesser version of Russell's is better than 90% of what's available. But there is an obvious price creep with these store picks in a privatized state. You will almost always see these for $80-90, which is marked up $10-20 over the standard Russell's SiB. You're only paying extra for information, which Wild Turkey annoyingly obfuscates from their standard release. I think they're still worth it, but when they inevitably hit $100 I will have to be more scrupulous.

OHLQ 2024 selection barrel #1 Barrel No. 24-0205 Warehouse TYR-F; Floor 4 Distilled - 10-28-2015 Dumped - 03-18-2024 Bottled - 04-17-2024 Age - 8 years, 4 months, 19 days Open 7 weeks Nose - Cocoa powder, toasted marshmallow, cherry vanilla, bright cinnamon, nutmeg, peanut shell, grain, medium oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - This bourbon tastes more like cheap milk chocolate covered cherries than anything I've had. Also a dash of cinnamon powder and cereal grain. Finish is long with semi-sweet chocolate, medicinal cherry, cinnamon vanilla frosting, and light ethanol. All I can say is thank god or whomever that I can still buy great picks from state-controlled liquor stores, because these Russell's picks are $80-95 everywhere I've looked in Kentucky. And so far, the few picks I've bought from OHLQ have been winners. This is an excellent, slightly off-profile Russell's with much more chocolate than the typical pick. If it had a year or two more to eliminate some of those sharp edges from the grain and baking spices, this might be 5 stars. Summary of the review, OHLQ does a good job with barrel picks.

This is a pick that was selected for the Kentucky Bourbon affair in 2019 by Fred Minnick and I picked it up shortly after at the distillery. It is a 2019 Camp Nelson F product and it was in oak for just over 10 years. Barrel: 19-1339 CNF 6 For me Wild Turkey products shine anywhere from 8 to 11 years so this one is in my wheelhouse. Nose is oak and Luxardo cherry syrup. There is a little vanilla icing smell there as well. Taste is where this one shines. Cherry pie with a buttery crust is the major flavor but there is toffee, vanilla, caramel and a nice amount of barrel char. The mouthfeel has a little bit of a prickle that Camp Nelson is known for but it is not as strong as a Camp A barrel. Oily feel that covers the mouth well. Finish is very satisfying with a little tobacco, brown sugar and more cherry pie. It's long and creamy. Great pick - That 2019 year was epic for Camp Nelson Barrels.