Ultimate Beverage Challenge 93 points - This delightful bourbon has a truly effusive nose that suggests a freshly baked pecan pie with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream. On a second taste, rye spice becomes apparent and sits nicely on the lush, mouth filling palate. The finish is long and textured without showing alcohol or astringency..March/2017 Kentucky Spirit is a 101° single-barrel bourbon; every drop of its unadulterated taste and smoothness is drawn only from a single barrel. Each barrel is hand-selected at the peak of maturity before the bourbon is poured out and bottled. A stickler for quality, Jimmy Russell personally selects each of the barrels used in Kentucky Spirit. His challenge is to find single barrels that capture the essence of Wild Turkey, while at the same time, having a similarity that gives each taste of Kentucky Spirit consistency from bottle to bottle. Jimmy Russell hand-selects Kentucky Spirit to be fuller bodied, with rich vanilla flavors and a hint of sweetness." Kentucky Spirit has a complex layering of almonds, honey, blackberries and leather. The finish is almost aristocratic -- long, dark, lingering, and crying out for a fine cigar. Available in limited quantities, each and every bottle is handsomely packaged with a hand-signed label bearing the barrel number, date and warehouse number.
