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I just had some Russell's Reserve with my lunch of homemade Brusnwick Stew and the two sang a tasty duet.

Why in the world did Wild Turkey mess with Russell's Reserve? It was a great bourbon just like it was..............in my opinion as good as, and maybe better than, Rare Breed or Kentucky Spirit. To my mind it is the quintessential bourbon. There may be some bourbons that are better (sometimes), but I hate to think about the day when there won't be no RR 101 in my liquor cabinet.

I haven't tried the 'new' Russell's Reserve and I confess that I might not be able to tell the difference. Still, it seems like a slap in the face to Wild Turkey drinkers to change the formula. It just pisses me off!

OK, I am coming down from my soapbox!!

I wish WT the same success Coca Cola had with the 'new' coke.

It pisses me off too.
Joe

I've managed to find 2 lone bottles of this stuff in liquor stores i've checked...

havent opened or tried either; as I have an open bottle of rare breed, kentucky spirit, and a few other whiskies to work with for now..

i doubt that i'd personally be able to distinguish much difference between a 90 and 101 proof russel reserve, at least at my tasting experience.. but who knows.

I moved the previous post "Russell's Reserve 90" up the line so you can read what Jimmy Russell said about all this.
I have both bottles and I've gotta say that the 90 is still a respectable WT product. I also find that now I have something to search for when I go hunting. I'm buying as many RR101's as I can.

Joe

I'm comin' to the sampler and I'll have a good supply of 101 RR for tradin'.
Joe

Art L and I were pondering this very question a few weeks back.

I've got both the 90 and the 101 open at the moment. They are definitely different, but both good.

I think WT wants to hop on the trendy new train that has been so successfull for Jim Beam. Besides the crowd-pleasing lower proof, check out the packaging. The old bottle had a giant silk screened turkey. I don't think "Wild Turkey" means sophistication to the average [young] crowd. The new bottle is quite trendy and you have to look real hard to find "Wild Turkey" in VERY small print on the side of the bottle.

I think this is WT's move to create a new brand to appeal to the masses and get on the Makers Mark / Woodford Reserve / Knob Creek bandwagon.

It may piss us off, but it is probably a good move for the company.

Mike

MikeK wrote:
I think this is WT's move to create a new brand to appeal to the masses and get on the Makers Mark / Woodford Reserve / Knob Creek bandwagon.

It may piss us off, but it is probably a good move for the company.

Mike

Aw, Mike, you want to inject some reasonableness into this discussion. I was still enjoying being pissed off and being the injured party. Shucks, Mike! Get thee to Pittsburg (or Cleveland)!

Sorry to kill your rant!

I wish I'd had the chance to try the old version...have tried the new one and it's pretty good. In this case, I think the tax laws may have had something to do with it as well...since federal excise taxes are higher on whiskies above 100 proof. By dropping it from 101.5 to 90 proof, Wild Turkey's bean counters at Pernod Ricard were able to keep the prices similar, but pay less to the government...making it more profitable.

Mark

I just scored a bottle of 101 at a liquor store in Sellersburg, Indiana, near my home. I went in looking for a bottle of Old Forester Birthday but they were out. I started looking around and saw it in a display of other Turkey offerings. The proprietor didn't even know about the proof/packaging change.

Mike

Since my last post, I have been able to find a bottle of the original WTRR...and it's everything I had heard about. Just wonderful...and the store in New Jersey where I found it has a few bottles left!

Mark