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Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve Rye 6 Year Old

Average score from 3 reviews and 3 ratings 85

Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve Rye 6 Year Old

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Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve Rye 6 Year Old

Nose: Very clean and fresh nose. You get hints of grain, mint, cinnamon powder, some light vanilla's with some caramel.

Taste: Sweet arrival. Turns spicy, but a soft spice not a lot of power to this. Vanilla is prominent as is the grain. Slightly minty and herbal. Some orange peel or orange peel acid. It's a light bodied Rye and very mild. Not much power here.

Finish: Wood, mint, herbal, and earthy. Silky finish.

Overall a decent Rye but not too much complexity or power here. If you want the Rye to be in your face, look elsewhere.

@GotOak91

At my local grocery store I've always noticed this particular bottle of rye whiskey, it was the only one there and it looked like just to fill up space on the shelf. So I decided it was about the time where I try the reemerging style that is rye whiskey.

Nose: Sweet like a bourbon with vanilla, caramel, maple syrup and oddly sweet almonds. I was expecting something else... not entirely sure given the lack of experience of rye whiskey.

Body: Medium weight and relatively smooth with a notable tingle on the tongue more so than the E.C.12

Taste: Spicy is the predominate flavor which is expected. I detect rye spice and fall baking spices i.e. nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and some black pepper. This taste is quite contrasting from the nose. This is interesting....

Finish: Short yet powerful ending with the bursts of spicy rye and pepper with a drying ending.

Overall: Not entirely sure if this is a proper feel of a Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey so comments are welcome especially if you have a suggestion for a better rye. As a first time rye drinker this was a reasonably pleasurable experience.

...and there are some rye whiskey discussions on Connosr to hear people's preferences, including mine. I would describe Russell's Reserve 6 yo Rye as a very solid mid-range rye. Personally I like them more concentrated than 45% ABV, generally. But there are some very decent ryes in that range.

Thanks Victor I guess I should look for that discussion. On another note I was kind of surprised that this bottling wasn't listed. I guess its a relatively new line by WT. *Relatively as in several years.

@Victor

Russell's Reserve is the selection of master distiller Jimmy Russell of Austin Nichols/Wild Turkey, in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

Nose: oak, caramel, vanilla

Taste: this comes on with a lot of low wood notes early, is rather sweet, but that sweetness is disguised by the strong rye spices. This has a much lower pitch than most ryes, but not nearly as low as the Van Winkle Rye. I almost never add water to rye whiskey, but it actually opens up the flavours with this whiskey quite a lot

Finish: long, with wood tones dominating spiciness at the periphery

Balance: this is woody in the way that some 15+ yr old bourbons are woody-- a remarkable thing in that the Russell's Reserve Rye is only 6 years in the wood. This is one whiskey that those who like big oak flavours will like and those who do not like the strong wood flavours will probably not care for

@Victor,I just opened a bottle of Russell's 6yo Rye based on your review. I really like the woody sweetness of bourbon so I thought the Russell's reserve would make an easy transition as I delve into rye. I wasn't wrong. As always my first taste was neat. My initial reaction to the rush of spicy heat that follows the sweet woody flavor reminded my of Jackie Gleason. After a couple of gasps and a few self inflicted punches in the chest I exclaimed, "THAT'S GOOD BOOZE", very loudly.

@joshk, I can easily understand how a person could rate the Russell's Reserve Rye as high as perhaps 92. There are no real flaws here, just an individual preference for flavour profiles. Jim Murray gave this whiskey a 91 in his 2011 Whisky Bible.

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