Tag: Wild Turkey

Happy Birthday, Bourbon Elvis

Jimmy Russell is Bourbon Elvis (sans white jump suit).  He is the rock star of Bourbon rock stars.  The celebrity of Bourbon celebrities.  The master distiller’s Master Distiller.  Today is Jimmy’s birthday.  Long live The King.

Lots of people have Jimmy Russell stories.  I have a few of them myself, but will try to limit this post to a couple and avoid tangents into others.  Otherwise, we may be here awhile.

Jimmy and me. Best of friends.

I first met Jimmy on June 16, 2018.  (I realize that isn’t that long ago, but I’m fairly new to Bourbon.)  It was the 10th anniversary celebration for Westport Whiskey & Wine in Louisville and it was hot.  It was fry-an-egg-on-your-forehead, sweat-through-your-underwear kind of hot.  Despite the heat, there is Jimmy Russell:  Wiping his sweat on a scarf and tossing it to the crowd (he didn’t really do that).  But, Jimmy was there.  He was there to support Chris Zaborowski and Rich Splan, the owners of Westport.  And he was there to meet Bourbon fans like me.  He sat under that tent for four hours shaking hands, smiling and answering the same questions a hundred different times with an enthusiasm like it was the first time he had heard it.  All the while, Jimmy was just sweating it out with us commoners.

The most recent time I saw Jimmy was almost a year later: June 13, 2019.  Jimmy was again at Westport Whiskey & Wine, but this time with his son, Eddie, and his grandson, Bruce.  They weren’t promoting anything specific.  They were just there to share a few pours while taking some pictures and talking Bourbon with Wild Turkey fans.  My older son and I were sure to get a picture with the Russells.  The three generations of Russells with two generations of Roses.  At the time, my son and his wife were expecting so the third generation Rose was on his way.  My grandson was born just a few days shy of sharing a birthday with Jimmy.  So, join me in raising a glass of something Wild Turkey for Jimmy’s birthday.  Here’s to many more years, many more stories and many more Bourbons.  Cheers, Jimmy, and thank you.  Thank you very much.

Families photo: Three generations of Russells. Two generations of Roses with the third on the way.

When you drink Wild Turkey you can’t help but think of Jimmy and all he means to the world of Bourbon. Raise a glass and give a cheer for Jimmy any time you’re sipping Wild Turkey, but especially on his birthday.

Kevin Rose

Bourbon Good Guys (Vol. I)

Within every group, there are a small percentage of people who ruin it for everybody else in the group.  A few ne’er-do-wells give the group as a whole a bad name. Heisman Trophy winners have OJ.  Olympic Figure Skaters have Tonya Harding.  Child actors have…well, child actors have a lot of cute-kid-turned-degenerate ruining it for them (Dana Plato, Lindsay Lohan, Corey Haim, Screech (I never remember his real name), Macauly Culkin).  Something really goes off the trail for child actors when they go from being an Eagle Rare to being a Pappy 23. 

Bourbon enthusiasts deal with the same issues.  A few guys give the rest of us a bad rep.  You know the ones: They leave chairs in line at bottle releases and disappear for hours.  They rant about people leaving chairs in line at bottle releases then disappearing for hours. They insult people who don’t like what the “sophisticated” bourbon drinker likes.  They get in virtual fist fights over whether Jack Daniels is a bourbon or not. They tick off your liquor store managers by constantly asking if they have any Pappy, then get mad when they don’t get Pappy even though they’ve never bought a thing in the store before.  These are the people that give bourbon lovers a bad name. 

Most of the people we know in the bourbon community are good people, however.  They are the Tim Tebows, Dorothy Hamills and Ron Howards of bourbon.  So from time to time in this blog I’ll highlight one of the good guys (or gals) that help give bourbon a good name.

That Wild Turkey Guy

David Jennings loves Wild Turkey.  I don’t know if David has kids, but if he does I expect they are named “Jimmy” and “Russell” (whether they be boys or girls).  What I do know is that David is a self-proclaimed “Wild Turkey super fan” and has amassed a great deal of knowledge about the history of the distillery, its products and its people. 

David is better known in bourbon circles as “that Wild Turkey guy” (a moniker I’m sure he wears with pride).  Unless your last name is “Russell”, he is the go-to resource when it comes to anything Wild Turkey.  Much of his insights can be found at his website (www.rarebird101.com) and he can be followed on twitter (@RBird101) and instagram (@rarebird101). 

What I’ve found in David is someone who is very generous with his time and knowledge.  When I ask him questions about Wild Turkey he could very easily just tell me to search his website (because the answer surely lies there if it is anywhere) but he always responds with thorough answers and sends me links to appropriate posts from his site). Even though I don’t know him personally, he has also been a big encouragement to me in launching The Bourbon Fellowship blog.

Jimmy Russell and me. This was taken on a very hot day and Jimmy was having a much better hair day than I was.

David’s latest endeavor is to publish a book on (you guessed it) Wild Turkey.  A goal David has for the book is to have a completed copy of it in Jimmy Russell’s hands by September 10.  That day will mark Jimmy’s 65th anniversary at Wild Turkey.  This would be a fitting way to honor Jimmy as he means so much to bourbon enthusiasts everywhere.  Jimmy is bourbon’s rock star.  He is Bourbon Elvis.  (Now I’m picturing Jimmy Russell in a white jump suit.  I’ve cracked myself up).

There is a lot of work to do to get this project completed before September 10 and David is using Kickstarter to raise funds to get that work done as he will self publish the book.  You can see more information on that campaign on his website here or you can go directly to the Kickstarter page here.  You can hear David describe the project in his own words in a recent episode of the Bourbon Pursuit podcast (this is one of my favorite episodes in awhile, by the way).  If you can help in any way (even just spreading the word) I am sure David would appreciate it.

I would encourage you to follow David on twitter and instagram and subscribe to his blog.  You can learn a lot from him and I know he would love to hear from you. He really is one of bourbon’s good guys. 

Kevin Rose

The Whiskey Masters

We’ve all laid awake at night pondering the universal question: If you were a whiskey what would you be?

As you watch an early morning version of The Masters today, here are some thoughts on which whiskey each of the guys on the leader board might be.

Francisco Molinari – Old Forester

Molinari is like Old Forester. He has added many things to his skill set. He completely revamped his putting stroke and changed his swing to give him more power off the tee. He was already very good, but these changes have made him one of the greats in the game today.

Old Forester has done the same. They added the 1920 and 1910 to the Whiskey Row Series, brought back President’s Choice and introduced a new rye. All things that take the brand to the next level.

Tiger Woods – Four Roses

Tiger was done. He was shamed. He was hurt. His game was an embarrassment. He had fallen to 1,199th in the world. Many thought he’d never play again. Forget about winning a tournament and a major seemed an impossibility. Yet, here we are. The red-shirted one may be wearing a green jacket before the day is over.

Four Roses was done. It was horrible. It had given up on quality. It was an embarrassment. The distillery was on the verge of shutting down for good. Yet, here we are. Jim Rutledge brought the brand back from the scrap heap to height of glory most thought was impossible. Within a few days, Four Roses (with Brent Elliott now at the helm) will be introducing a highly-anticipated new small batch bourbon to the whiskey public.

Tony Finau – New Riff

Tony Finau is somewhat of a new kid on the block. If you are a casual golf fan you may not know who he is. If you do follow the game you know what he is capable of and you wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him win today. Even if he doesn’t, you’re confident he’ll be winning a major very soon and everybody will know who he is then.

Finau is like New Riff. New Riff is new brand on the bourbon shelf. If you are a casual bourbon fan you may not know New Riff. If you are a student of the bourbon game, you know about New Riff and you know how good it is. Before long it will be winning lots of awards and everybody will know about New Riff then.

Brooks Koepka – Henry McKenna 10 Year

True golf fans have been enjoying Brooks Koepka’s game for years. He was golf’s best kept secret. Then a year or two ago he started winning all the big events (3 majors in less than 2 years). Now Brooks Koepka is one of the hottest golfers in the game.

This is a similar story to Henry McKenna 10 Year. The bourbon fan knew about this best-kept secret of the whiskey world. Then it started winning awards and now, as the hottest brand in bourbon, it can’t stay on the shelves.

Webb Simpson – Wild Turkey 101

Webb is steady. Predictable. Consistent. He may not be the first golfer that comes to mind and he may not win all the tournaments, but you can’t help but admire his longevity and reliability.

Wild Turkey 101 is that steady, predictable and consistent player in the bourbon world. You can’t really remember when WT101 wasn’t around and you can always count on a solid performance…just like Webb Simpson.

Ian Poulter – Whistle Pig Rye

Poulter is brash and flashy with a lot of spice. Sometimes that brash makes us forget that he’s a pretty darn good golfer, too (especially during The Ryder Cup, but I don’t want to talk about that).

Poulter is the Whistle Pig Rye of the golf world. Whistle Pig’s brand is also brash and flashy. And a 100% rye is going to bring a lot of spice to your glass. One taste of that rye will help you remember that it’s a pretty darn good whiskey, too.

I hope you enjoy The Masters today and have a little fun with it as I’ve tried to do with this blog. Please share it with your friends who enjoy golf or whiskey or both! And if you know what kind of whiskey you’d be, feel free to leave that in the comments.

Kevin Rose

In the beginning…

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty…

Genesis (the book of the Bible not the rock band)

In the beginning?  Well, there are numerous legends, tall tales and far-fetched fables about who (in the beginning) created bourbon. Regardless of who started it, my beginnings in bourbon can only be traced back to six or seven years ago.  Before then my bourbon cabinet was “formless and empty”.  It’s only been in the past three or four years that my bourbon stash has been fruitful and multiplied. 

A year ago in February I decided the best way to celebrate my birthday was to invite a few friends over and open a newly-acquired bottle of Elijah Craig 18.  I don’t know where an EC18 ranks in your collection, but it was pretty near the top of mine and I couldn’t think of a better time to open it than with the best of company. 

This Elijah Craig 18 was outstanding. The Reverend Craig would be proud.

As we talked of legends, tall tales and far-fetched fables about each other, we sipped away about half of the delicious whiskey in that bottle. Before calling it a night, we might have sampled a bit of Blanton’s and a splash of Booker’s, too.  The guys enjoyed and appreciated the bourbon, but everyone seemed to also enjoy just being together.  Even though we didn’t have Birthday Bourbon, this birthday bourbon tasting was a great way to celebrate.

For a group of guys, however, what else would you do? Have your buddies over for birthday cake?  Most normal people like cake, but are we drinking Capri Sun and playing pin-the-tail on the donkey, too?  Probably not.  Getting together to watch a ball game is always fun, but the focus is always on the game and not the fellowship.  You could go watch a movie, but unless it’s “Die Hard 8” or “Rocky 47” or the highly-anticipated “Die Hard vs. Rocky”, then going to the movies just seems a little too date night-ish. Now you could talk me into a steakhouse and a really nice, medium-rare rib eye but, other than that, getting together to share some bourbon with friends is tough to beat.  Of course, any rib eye would likely be paired with a double pour of Kentucky Spirit anyway.

After everyone left and I was putting away glasses and bottles, I thought about how well the evening went.  It wasn’t just drinking good bourbon.  It was a few hours of laughs and conversation with friends that I just haven’t seen as often as I should. 

So, the very obvious thought occurred to me: we should do this more often.  And so, we did.

The next blog post will be about the first meeting of The Bourbon Fellowship. Many of the future posts will be about our group which will, hopefully, give you some ideas on what to do in your own group.

Kevin