Bring on the bourbon
Bourbon lovers rejoice. Not only do we have an interview with Wild Turkey's Associate Master Distiller, Eddie Russell, for you, but we're giving you the chance to win a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 and 81
We turned our backs on Scotch for the day to spend some time knocking-back bourbon with a fourth-generation distiller with a very cool Kentucky drawl: Wild Turkey’s Associate Master Distiller, Eddie Russell.
Tell us about your background
This business is in my blood – I’m fourth in a line of distillers. My father, Jimmy Russell, joined the distillery in 1954, and I followed him into the profession in 1981. I did everything a good distiller has to do to make it to my position – I rode barrels and I stacked boxes, and after five years, my dad taught me how to make whisky, and from there I moved up into the maturation and ageing process. That’s what you need to do to become a master distiller; you don’t just age it and hand it onto somebody else, you see the whole process through.
What’s the main difference between whisky and bourbon?
Bourbon has a lot more restrictions on it. It has to be made in the USA, it has to be at least 51% corn, we have to age in a brand-new barrel every time and we’re the only whisky in the world that you can’t add colour to. The colour you see in bourbon is completely natural and comes from the barrel. We use white oak barrels that are burned on the inside. That helps to give the bourbon its colour and flavour.
How did Wild Turkey 81 come to be?
Our main product is Wild Turkey 101, which is a big, bold tasting drink – it’s not for your beginning bourbon drinker. So what I wanted to do with Wild Turkey 81 was create something that still had the same great flavour, but was easier for bourbon novices to drink, whilst lending itself to the current mixology culture. The 101 is something you drink on the rocks, whereas the 81 works beautifully in cocktails.
You were inducted into the Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2010. What does it mean to be a member?
My father and I are the only father and son distillers in the Hall of Fame and, and it is a true honour. It’s not something you can buy your way into. It’s something you earn as your peers vote you into it. Essentially, we are ambassadors of the bourbon industry and being members of the Bourbon Hall of Fame acknowledges that.
What do you enjoy most about life as a distiller?
Everything. My father has been working every day for 60 years and he’s still doing it. In the past, I would look at him and wonder why he was working so much. But now I understand, as it’s so enjoyable.
In the home of whisky, why should we be converting to bourbon?
Bourbon has been produced in the same way for years, and it’s a completely natural product, with nothing added to it. That’s definitely something to bear in mind.
What brought you on this visit to the UK?
I’m travelling across the country to educate bartenders about Wild Turkey. We’ve also just launched the first UK Wild Turkey Cocktail Competition, to find the UK’s best bartender. It’s a really exciting time for me and the brand.
Our Competition
Wild Turkey got its name after distillery executive Thomas McCarthy took some bourbon samples on a wild turkey hunting trip in 1940. His friends soon asked for some more of that ‘wild turkey whisky’ and the rest is history. So now it’s your turn. What would you call your bourbon company and why? Post a comment below for your chance to win a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 and 81. Competition closes Friday 16th August.
I would call my bourbon company “Two black cats”. Because, you guessed it, I have two black cats who are both extremely cool and love bourbon. (That last bit about bourbon and cats is a lie no, cats would like bourbon. Bourbon flavoured milk is a whole other ball game). Oh, and it sound better than “the fluffy bourbon company”
I’d call mine The Sippin’ Crow Fine Bourbon Co. Because it sounds cooler than a gator in an icebox. Or something.
I would call it “Howlin’ Dog” yesirree!
I’d call my bourbon company White Bowl Bourbon – the marketing would be all about a snazzy way to drink your bourbon to see the true colour in it ( like the Jeremiah Weed Jar Glass ) but all the junior drinkers would think of the porcelain bowl at the end of a big night!
My Bourbon would be called “Any Moore”. Its a play on words in honor of Annie Moore the first immigrant through Ellis Island. It was the immigrant that brought the art of brewing and distilling to the states and this would be just a little way of honoring all those than have continued the craft and given us such wonderful delights of Bourbon, Irish, Scottish or New World Whiskeys.
I’d dgo with Smokestack Lightin’ a classic tune with the line “Smokestack lightnin’, shining, just like gold” cue that playing over a shot of the whiskey pouring.
I would call the company “Walk the Line Bourbon” a tribute to the late, great Johnny Cash who had his fair share of Bourbon in his time and was a big Jack Daniel’s fan (yes it is a Tennessee Whiskey) but he also died there so quite fitting.
Should be something out there to remember a legend like J.C.
Would probably call the first bottle “Man in Black” with a picture of the man on front.
Let’s try calling it Bardstown Bombshell Bourbon, and put a beautiful illustration of the home town of Bourbon’s homecoming queen from 1992, when the modern Bardstown Bourbon Festival began.
Yeah, Bardstown Bombshell. I’d drink that.
I would call it “Suit of Armor”. Because Whiskey makes us feel safe and warm inside and invulnerable.
I’d call it ‘Howling Wolf’, because bourbon goes great with the Blues and after a few it brings out a little howling wolf in all of us, even if it is just howling at the moon….
I’d call mine “A Rye Expression” because, well, it’d make me smile, but also because I’d want to take it more down the rye path for a bit of differentiation.
I would call mine ‘Cornmasters’ in honour of the great Bourbon distillers.
I’d call my distillery “A Barrel of Laughs” because it’d be a casual beverage, to sip between friends. Nothing serious.
I’d call it Ballinderry after the river that flows between counties tyrone and derry(londonderry) and past where i work. Think it makes a good whisky sounding name
Paper Cup Bourbon. The first bottle of dark spirits I bought was drunk on a sunny afternoon by a lake in splendid company out of paper cups. Ah memories!
Sitting Bull whiskey, honouring a great American native
Sitting Bull whiskey, honouring one of Americas great natives
I’d call my Bourbon ‘The Flaming Virgin’ referring to the oak used for the barrels in Bourbon production, and it sounds a bit naughty
The salt lick.
The salt lick is something the my dad gave the cows to help them digest their food after eating. I prefer bourbon after dinner myself, and I associate the salt lick with the slow place of county life compared to the city. Burbon has that same slow country life feel, which I remember so fondly when growing up on the farm.
We have a winner! Congratulations to Scott Forrester and The Sippin’ Crow Fine Bourbon Company. Why did Scott choose this name? Because it’s cooler than a gator in an icebox, of course.