Eddie Russell

Edward Freeman “Eddie” Russell is the youngest of 3 sons of Joretta and Jimmy Russell. He became employed at the family business at the Wild Turkey distillery with his father on June 5th, 1981, distilling and discovering the ways of operating the distillery from the bottom up. Just like his dad, Eddie has done just about every position at the distillery. He is now the second generation of the Russell family to work at the distillery, and Wild Turkey’s fourth Master Distiller.

Eddie started working at the distillery as a relief operator, later to be promoted to new production supervisor, and then warehouse supervisor. After 20 years, he then took on the position of barrel maturation and warehouse manager. It was in this position that he worked with his father on the creation of Russell’s Reserve 10-year, which went on to become an award-winning bourbon.

In 2008, Eddie was named Associate Master Distiller, and in 2011, Eddie developed the Wild Turkey 81 bourbon, an approachable bourbon that is great neat or in a cocktail. Wild Turkey 81 is a bolder and spicier bourbon than the Wild Turkey 80 that it replaced.

Eddie has gone on to branch out from his father’s shadow and has gone his own way in developing new and innovative products during his tenure. In 2010, he was given the distinction of being inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. He had the honor of being inducted by his father Jimmy, who was himself inducted in the inaugural class in 2001.

Wild Turkey 81 was soon followed by Wild Turkey Spiced, which was a short-lived product that was discontinued a year or so after its introduction; however, this began the trial-and-error phase of Eddie testing new markets.

Wild Turkey Forgiven soon followed, which, according to the tale, occurred based upon an employee accidentally batching bourbon with rye whiskey. Eddie ultimately liked the taste and pushed to release it, and with Jimmy’s final approval as well, the mistake was ‘Forgiven’. It was first released in 2013, then its success led to another batch in 2014. Also in 2014, in celebration of Jimmy’s 60 years at Wild Turkey, Eddie created Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary using a blend of 13- and 16-year whiskies.

After working his way from the bottom to the top of Wild Turkey, Eddie Russell was named Master Distiller alongside his father Jimmy in 2015. They were, at the time, the only active father and son Master Distillers at a single distillery in the world.

Under Eddie’s leadership, Wild Turkey continued to come up with new releases, mostly different experiments that Eddie leads, notably including the Master’s Keep line. The Master’s Keep line includes only Eddie’s signature for this reason, since he alone led the development.

In 2016, actor and bourbon enthusiast Matthew McConaughey joined Wild Turkey as Creative Director. He worked with Eddie and developed and released Longbranch Bourbon in 2018. This bourbon is finished with Texas Mesquite and American Oak charcoal. In 2020, Eddie released Rare Breed Rye, which is a premium barrel-proof rye. Eddie then developed Russell’s Reserve 13-year, which was released in 2021 and has gone on to be a highly sought-after bottle, now with 3 releases.

Most recently, in 2022, Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse Collection was released, which is a limited release from a single rickhouse. The first release of this collection came from the revered “Camp Nelson C rick house” and was bottled from a blend of 72 barrels. The Camp Nelson C rickhouse has been dismantled since, so this whiskey will never be produced again in the future.

Eddie and his wife Judy have 2 sons and live in Lawrenceburg, where he was born and raised. Eddie, like his father, travels the world visiting stores, giving talks, and spreading the word of Wild Turkey to eager whiskey enthusiasts. Eddie has now been at Wild Turkey for over 40 years and jokes that he will likely retire before his father, Jimmy.

Contributed by Daniel Snyder, Champaign, Illinois