Special thanks to Frank for picking up on the “12 Rickhouses of Turkey” series while I was recovering from Covid 19. Rickhouse T is growing in popularity among Turkey fans, and I can understand why. It’s tasty whiskey! Matter of fact, I’ve participated in selecting two TYT barrels in recent years – one alongside Frank last June.

Enjoy the read! dj

Wild Turkey’s Tyrone campus has seen a number of its rickhouses show up in Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel program over the past five years, but rickhouse T has come on strong lately. While all of 2024’s available rickhouses have yet to be confirmed (here’s a useful reference guide going back to 2019) single-barrel selections from Tyrone T have appeared since 2015. 

Located in the back of Wild Turkey’s main campus, on the same side as the Station Master’s House, rickhouse T is situated in a relatively open space with plenty of airflow rising up from the Kentucky River. It was reportedly filled in the early 2010s with barrels aged at the Camp Nelson and McBrayer campuses. This information is useful because while some barrels have rotated from different locations, it’s likely that today’s 2022 selection spent the entirety of its life soaking up the impact of Tyrone’s rickhouse T. 

I acquired this bottle in a way that should be all too familiar to you, dear readers. I found myself on vacation out of town, in Nashville in this case, and decided to stop by a local liquor store to poke around in the hopes of getting lucky. It’s been said that “luck” is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. When I saw this Russell’s Reserve private selection sitting in a display case near the cash register, I was more than prepared to seize the opportunity to bring it home. I opened it almost immediately, but since then it’s rested undisturbed in the back of my bunker for a little over a year. Let’s check in and see how it’s doing, shall we? 

Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 

Proof: 110 

Age: 8 years, 10 months 

Misc.: selected by Pour Vous Wine, Spirits & Beer; barrel 22-0733, Tyrone T, 4th floor; distilled and bottled by the Wild Turkey Distilling Co., Lawrenceburg, KY 

Tasted neat in a Glencairn after a few minutes rest … 

Color: light copper

Nose: tart cherries, allspice, orange sponge cake, cedar, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla pod

Taste: black pepper, walnut, allspice, blood orange, buttercream frosting, piquant woodiness, Aleppo red pepper flakes 

Finish: lengthy and sizzling with black pepper, nutmeg, clove, cedar, vanilla, cream soda & leather

Impression: Among the legion of Tyrone’s rickhouses, this T barrel seems as though it has the most in common with Tyrone B, which has the most prominent nuttiness and baking spice from my experience. Tyrone B is located on the opposite side of the campus but situated with plenty of airflow, which might give some general indication of what one can expect from such a position. Of course, as this experiment is intended to show, flavor profiles among aging locations can be a bit of a moving target, though generalities do indeed show themselves when considering bourbon distilled and bottled at similar times. 

Maps courtesy of Bo Garrett.

After cross-checking my notes for this bottle with David’s for Tyrone S we each made mention of a certain nuttiness. Rickhouse S is similarly on the outskirts of the property. In comparing our notes for Tyrone T and Tyrone Q, they’re wildly different. With rickhouse Q located between S and T one might assume a pattern was emerging; however, the flavor profile David picked up on Tyrone K, which is located near the Visitors Center, is also quite different from those I get with Tyrone T. 

What, then, are we left with? Well, when taking a wider view it seems that Tyrone’s rickhouses seem to be rife with baking spice notes and occasionally offer well-developed citrus flavors along with a certain nuttiness and confectionary quality. How does Tyrone T fit into this melange of aromas and flavors? It fits to a tee. 

I can only assume this bottle is long gone from the Nashville area’s Pour Vous stores, but it would seem to me the “12 Rickhouses of Turkey” series is showcasing not only a variety of Wild Turkey’s rickhouses, but also some similarities that can be gleaned. This is particularly true when considering the notes that emerge from each campus. If you can’t find selections from Tyrone T (again, it isn’t confirmed whether or not it will be in the single-barrel program for 2024) then you should rest assured with Tyrone F already confirmed for this year along with one of Jimmy Russell’s favorites, Tyrone K. 

fd

Enjoy this blog? Please consider supporting it via Patreon. In return you’ll receive access to exclusive rewards and weekly whiskey content. Thank you! dj