Let’s say you’re lucky enough to get your hands on a bottle of the new 2026 release of Russell’s Reserve 13-Year-Old. As you contemplate whether to uncork it now or tuck it away for a special occasion, you’ll notice the updated label design that salutes master distiller Eddie Russell’s forty-fifth anniversary at Wild Turkey (and likely makes the bottle even more coveted). It’s a major milestone for Eddie, the middle of Wild Turkey’s three-generation distilling dynasty that spans dad Jimmy, now ninety-one, to son Bruce, who holds the title of associate master blender. Eddie created the lauded Russell’s Reserve brand for another special occasion more than twenty-five years ago, and he recently took some time to share more of the family story behind his anniversary bottle—and guide us through a pour.
You started with a summer job at Wild Turkey in 1981. What was the worst chore you were given?
I’d just turned twenty-one and was low man on the totem pole. Jimmy, who then basically was master distiller and plant manager and everything, told me from day one that I needed to work twice as hard because I was his son. I loved working in the warehouse, but being in the union, I went to the lowest jobs, and most of the time that was on the bottling line. The empty bottles came sterilized and upside down in a case, and I had to dump them onto what we called an unscrambler machine. I was doing a dozen bottles at a time, three to four thousand bottles a day. I had a pretty good knack for it, but if I got behind and had to turn the line off, the supervisor was standing over me saying, “What’s going on?”
What made you realize that you wanted to stay on at Wild Turkey?
It was really a small business compared to now, and I grew up knowing everybody from coming around with Jimmy. Plus, $6.58 an hour was big money in 1981 in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Right at first, those other guys working there weren’t quite sure what to think about me and would disappear without me to sneak their little tastes. The second week in, one of the old supervisors gave me a taste right out of the barrel, and to this day I still think it’s probably the best taste of bourbon I’ve ever had. Within a couple of weeks, I knew it was home to me. It just felt so natural.
Fast-forwarding a bit, what was your inspiration for Russell’s Reserve?
The whole idea behind it was to create a special batch to celebrate Jimmy’s forty-fifth anniversary at Wild Turkey in 1998. They thought he was going to retire soon, though that sure didn’t happen. Jimmy liked it because it was made for him, but it was more to my flavor profile than his. I grew up with all the distillers, the older gentlemen. They wanted a whiskey that smacked you in the face. But when I tasted barrels that had aged longer, I liked what I call the elegant notes in the bourbon, fruity notes, smoother and creamier. Then the Russell’s Reserve label debuted in 2001 as a ten-year bourbon, which was twice as old as most bourbons out there at the time.
Why is Russell’s Reserve 13-Year-Old being spotlighted for your own anniversary, instead of, say, the older fifteen-year expression?
The 13-Year-Old was the one that sort of put Russell’s Reserve on the map. The 10-Year-Old was well-liked even though we didn’t promote it a whole lot, but when the 13-Year-Old hit, the Russell’s Reserve brand rose up.
That said, I hear the documentary short film about your career coming out later this month includes you and Bruce pulling an eighteen-year-old barrel that ends up in the blend for this release. So how much juice actually exceeds thirteen years?
For this anniversary release, definitely 95 percent. It’s mainly fourteen-, fifteen-, sixteen-year-old barrels.
Now I’m even more excited to give it a whirl. Can you guide me through my first taste?
Sure. When I first started working with Jimmy, he always talked about color. That deep amber color like you see here usually implies it’s older and is going to taste better. On the nose, you’re going to get some traditional vanilla and oak, but also that Russell’s Reserve character with fruit and orange peel. Of course, for me, taste is most important.
OK, let’s sip. Yep, it’s good stuff. There’s fruit, toffee, caramel, also some spicy nutmeg and allspice. And that aged bourbon gives oak tannins that hang there in the aftertaste with a sweet cherry cola note.
Wow. This is definitely worthy of toasting your anniversary.
Thanks. When Bruce first tasted it, he said, “That’s Dad’s whiskey right there.”
Forty-five years is quite a milestone. What do you still want to accomplish at Wild Turkey?
Right now, I’m working with Bruce pretty much daily on the stuff that he’s doing, like his first big release that just came out, Gold Foil Edition. When I first came on at Wild Turkey, I wanted to change everything. Bruce is not quite that way. He sees the legacy that Jimmy has, and he sees what I’ve done. He’s got a little of both of us in him in what he does. And then he wants to put his own little twist on things. He says he’s got it made because I’ve laid down a lot of good whiskey.
The new Russell’s Reserve release and the film are public recognitions of the anniversary. Will the family also mark the occasion in some quieter moments?
We’ll definitely be sitting down and having a taste of this together. Jimmy doesn’t have many more left, and this is bringing things full circle. I created Russell’s Reserve 10-Year-Old for his forty-fifth anniversary, and now here we are at my forty-fifth anniversary after building my own thing on the aged bourbons. I just think it’s so special.
Steve Russell is a Garden & Gun contributing editor who also has written for Men’s Journal, Life, Rolling Stone, and Playboy. Born in Mississippi and raised in Tennessee, he resided in New Orleans and New York City before settling down in Charlottesville, Virginia, because it’s far enough south that biscuits are an expected component of a good breakfast.
