Table Of Contents
The Details
| Rating | 97 |
| Style |
Bourbon American Whiskey Whiskey |
| Produced In |
Kentucky United States |
| ABV | 58.6% |
| Availability | Limited |
| Price | $250.00 |
| Reviewed By | |
| Review Updated | 2024-07-03 |
Russell's Reserve 15 Year Bourbon Review
At least for the public, Russell’s 15 started with a bang, not a whimper.
Some of the internet’s more astute bourbon nerds scour regular TTB filings to get a sense of which whiskeys have received government approval for new labels. Last year, Coming Whiskey’s Jacob Kiper happened upon the label for Russell’s Reserve 15, an older, limited successor to Wild Turkey’s uber-popular Russell’s 13. (Itself a successor to the more commonly found, and still highly regarded, Russell’s 10.)
The discovery set niche corners of the whiskey world ablaze. And more than half a year later, we finally get to taste the product.
Some fast facts: Russell’s Reserve 15 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is bottled at 117.2 proof, a not-quite-cask-strength point that master distiller Eddie Russell felt best served the expression. All barrels in this small batch release were aged in the distillery’s Camp Nelson rickhouses, one of the more storied aging environments in the bourbon world. This 15 year release — which Wild Turkey owner Campari says is likely a one-off — replaces the 2024 version of Russell’s 13.
The bourbon community has known about Russell’s 15 for some time. Now that it’s out in the wild, let’s see how it tastes!
Russell's Reserve 15 Year Bourbon: Stats and Availability
Russell’s Reserve 15 Year Bourbon carries a suggested retail price of $250. Wild Turkey says the bottles — in limited supply, with no bottle count provided — will be released at select retailers in the United States and Asia starting July 1, 2024.
About that MSRP: $250 is actually a bit cheaper than the brand’s most recent Single Rickhouse release, which carried a $300 suggested price tag. It’s already commanding markups at retail and on the secondary market; I’ve seen prices as high as $850, though that mark seems to be trending downward as more bottles get distributed.
Russell's Reserve 15 Year Bourbon Review
As with all of VinePair’s whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.
A disclaimer: I first tasted this on a press trip to Wild Turkey’s distillery and rickhouse facilities. (Indeed, I first sampled this in a rickhouse.) My review in this article is based on sampling from a freshly-opened bottle in my home office, which is my typical review environment.
Nose
I don’t often comment on color, but this liquid is noticeably dark, a deep red copper a few hues more intense than the 13 year version.
Looks aside, let’s see how it smells. Oak, dark molasses, leather, and very damp tobacco leaves are dialed up near 11 here. It’s powerfully tannic wafting out of the glass and noses every bit its proof; the combo is enough it takes my nostrils nearly a minute to acclimate. Notably, however, the heat isn’t coming from ethanol as much as it is from spicy oak.
That leathery component peels back over time, almost as if it’s being skimmed off the top. Underneath is menthol, spearmint, chocolate-covered cherries, and an uncommonly potent array of spices: clove, nutmeg, and crushed cardamom pods.
Rounding out the nose is a generous hit of lemongrass, at once green, grassy, and citrusy, which intensifies after a couple more minutes in the glass. This nose threw a (not unwelcome) curve ball, with more tobacco and less orange and chocolate than I’m used to with Russell’s 13.
Taste
The palate is much more in line with the elements that have made Russell’s 13 one of the bourbon world’s most coveted releases. The tongue is immediately doused in a dense combination of fruit and oak. Luxardo cherry, blood orange, and black raisin swirl together in a fruity, syrupy concoction that gradually morphs into toasted wood.
The orange especially accumulates with each sip, yet it’s still the only flavor here I find myself wanting more of throughout the sip. Otherwise, the interplay between fruit and oak is pretty well balanced, particularly given the age, proof, and thick viscosity of this bourbon.
A shift toward damp, earthen flavors rounds out a fascinating narrative that flies just a tiny bit higher than the average Russell’s 13 release. A bit of umami tempers the fruit-forward sweetness along the midpalate, like dried mushrooms crushed and dusted atop a fruit-laden figgy pudding.
The upper palate is really put to work here, with both mocha and spearmint sticking around the roof of the mouth for long moments between sips.
Finish
Tannins quickly drop off on the finish, but not quite all the way. That allows sweetness to once again accumulate without the bourbon completely losing its oak-forward backbone. Beyond that, a resurgence of spice — cinnamon-forward this time — and a chocolate aftertaste that gets gradually milkier with time.
I played around with adding a tiny bit of water to this, but the impact was minimal. At least for this release, Russell’s 15 tells a story that’s worth experiencing straight out of the bottle.
Russell's Reserve 15 Year Bourbon Rating
97/100
Recap
Russell’s Reserve 15 climbs right to the top of Wild Turkey’s current releases. It’s the sort of bottle that may elevate anyone’s perception of Wild Turkey, though it probably won’t redefine perceptions entirely. If you happen across a bottle at close to retail pricing, consider yourself lucky. I’d certainly be reaching for my wallet.
*Image retrieved from Russell's Reserve
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