Bourbon is Better Part 1
Back when I was much younger, I spent a few years bartending in a restaurant. I did not start out knowing very much about alcohol, but I tried to learn as I went along.
One evening, early in the shift, I was standing alone behind the bar watching the people coming in when an older gentlemen walked in and asked what our bourbon selection was. I had no clue the difference between whisky and bourbon at the time and I proudly and confidently told him that we had a very popular brand of Tennessee mash that could be close to a bourbon because at the time we only had one bourbon, and it was higher on cost, so we rarely poured it. He explained the difference to me and talked to me for a few minutes about bourbon. When he started to leave, I said, wait you don’t want to have a drink? And he just laughed and said, “Not today. I only drink Wild Turkey.”
Later that night when I got home, I decided to do some research on the difference between bourbon and whiskey so that I would know for future customers. I went to the website for Wild Turkey and while I read about the history of the brand, I realized that the head distiller looked very familiar. I had met the head distiller of Wild Turkey, Jimmy Russell!
James C. “Jimmy” Russell has now been distilling bourbon for 70 years at the distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. He is a legend in the bourbon industry and is in the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame and a Master Distiller. His son, Eddie Russell, is following in his footsteps and has become a Master Distiller as well. This year Wild Turkey is releasing a Jimmy Russell’s 70th Anniversary 8-year-old Release in celebration of him becoming the longest-tenured spirits Master Distiller in the world.
Quite a few years ago on the night I realized I had met the “Buddha of Bourbon,” I ran into our living room and told Robert and we both were so excited and thought it was so cool. We eventually got us some Wild Turkey to try on our own and have been fans ever since. Every year, Mr. Russell would come into the restaurant with his whole family and Robert and I would fan all over him. His kids thought it was so funny that he was a celebrity to other people. They all sat a big table together to eat and most of them drank sweet tea. They said, “He’s just Dad to us.” Mr. Russell even came one night and did a meet and greet at the restaurant and signed bottles for customers. Our signed bottle sits in our fine china cabinet next to the Noritake set we got for our wedding present.
Robert and I do not drink alcohol very much at all anymore, but when we do we prefer bourbon. We started drinking the Honey version of Wild Turkey, serving it neat, as our little Friday night treat that we enjoy on our porch sitting and talking. I even started cooking with it and produced the absolute best recipe for pork chops that you will ever have. Wild Turkey is just one of our traditions and it will always be incredibly special to us because of knowing the story of it and how Jimmy Russell changed the whole bourbon industry with his contributions. We love how food and drink is a shared experience, and we love creating memories with both.
