People have been talking about the concept of terroir in whiskey for years, focusing mostly on two elements: grain and maturation. There is a case to be made for the way each influences a whiskey’s flavor, but Kentucky bourbon brand Russell’s Reserve is intent on showing the effects of the latter with the latest entry in its Single Rickhouse series, which also happens to be a fantastic bourbon.
Russell’s Reserve is distilled at Wild Turkey, where master distiller Eddie Russell, son of the legendary Jimmy Russell, oversees production. Russell’s is the smaller label that he created back in 1998 to celebrate Jimmy’s 45th year at the distillery (Eddie himself is celebrating the same anniversary this year). Over the years, Russell’s has become synonymous with well-aged but still affordable bourbon based on the quality of its 10-year-old expression, among other releases. The brand also started releasing special editions a few years back that have proven to be immensely popular, including 13 and 15-year-old bourbons and the Single Rickhouse series.
The series kicked off in 2022 with the release of Camp Nelson C, a bourbon aged for at least 10 years in a warehouse at Camp Nelson, which many consider to yield some of the distillery’s best whiskey based on climate and weather conditions there. All of the subsequent releases have varied in proof and age, but all have been drawn from barrels aged at Camp Nelson in an attempt to highlight what effect that environment has on the whiskey. The 2026 release comes from Warehouse D, which Russell said was the first warehouse he worked at when he started out at the distillery nearly half a century ago. It was aged for 12 years and bottled at 120.8 proof without chill filtration.
According to Russell, the barrels selected for this bourbon came from floors one, three, four, five, and six of the rickhouse, which is a larger combination of floors than have been used for any previous Single Rickhouse release. “We don’t typically draw from the first floor,” he said in a statement. “But some of the barrels we tasted down there contributed an earthy character that helped build the spicy, rye-like profile we found ourselves chasing. Once we realized what was developing, we leaned into it. This is the first Single Rickhouse release where, tasted blind, you’d bet it was a rye.”
We were able to sample the new whiskey, and there is indeed a good amount of spice on the palate, along with some heat that might expect at that higher proof. But there are also plenty of sweet and fruity notes to balance things out, including vanilla, maple, tobacco, baked apple, plum, cherry, and toasted almond flavors. This is an expensive bourbon at $300 per bottle (even higher than that on the secondary market), but it’s one that is well worth tracking down for fans of Wild Turkey, or people who are just looking to splurge on some high-quality, high-proof bourbon.
Authors
Jonah Flicker
