Russell's Reserve Private Barrel Selection (Barrel #25-1478 - The Colonel) - Rare Bird 101 & Keg N Bottle Private Barrel Pick 750 ml

BARREL DETAILS

• Distilled - 01/23/17
• Dumped - 11/202025
• Bottled - 12/08/2025
  
• Warehouse - Camp Nelson, D, 4th Floor
• Age - 8 Years, 303 Days
• Proof 110 (118.5 @ barrel selection)

TASTING NOTES

• Overall:  caramel, butter toffee, apple & almond pastry, spiced orange peel, hints of barrel-aged cherry; brown sugar, bourbon-soaked Biscoff cookie, charred oak, honey-glazed dark citrus, lightly toasted allspice; medium-long finish w/ vanilla spice, sweet oak char, savory cola fizz, baked cinnamon, faint leather & clove 
  
• Impression: This is a genuine Turkeyhead’s barrel. By that, I mean its profile is undeniably Wild Turkey but with a Camp Nelson twist. This was Col. Lee’s favorite barrel back when we selected these in Tyrone’s rickhouse A. After retasting, it all makes sense. The nose is a caramel & toffee bomb, with some oak-driven ripe orchard fruit for good measure (apple, orange, cherry). The taste takes many of those same notes and “bakes” them, turning caramel to brown sugar, toffee to Biscoff cookie, and the orchard fruit to glazed citrus. And just when you think the notes couldn’t get more dynamic, the back palate and finish hits like a fancy spiced cola.
• One of my favorite things about the Year of Camp Nelson series is the sheer variety of flavor. “The Colonel” shines in this department, as it’s the only barrel with this level of Turkey DNA. I’m tempted to call it the “Camp Nelson Corner Barrel.” Is it too soon to label such? Probably so, though it’s arguably a spiced version of that neo-classic profile.