The Day Bruce Made the Call: OWA's Camp Nelson D Pick
A November trip to Wild Turkey turned into one of our most memorable barrel picks yet. After our group landed in a dead split between two Russell's single barrels, Bruce Russell stepped in and made the call.
Last November, a group of Orlando Whiskey Alliance members traveled to Wild Turkey in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky alongside Sam Patel of Five Star Liquor and Wine and Dan Hakker of OADE Armagnac. We were there for a barrel pick. We left with something special and a story worth telling.
Arriving at Wild Turkey
Some places carry their history a little differently, and Wild Turkey is one of them. Walking up to their rickhouses in Lawrenceburg, you feel the weight of the place immediately. Decades of history distilled between these very walls.
We were there to taste through several barrels: From Camp Nelson to Tyrone. But then we ran into a problem. Every barrel they pulled for us was excellent, which led to one of the most challenging barrel picks we had done as a group.
The Turkey Exchange
We didn't just show up empty-handed, however. Our group arrived with samples of late 1980s and early 1990s Wild Turkey, back when the brand was still labeled under the Austin Nichols name. Dan also brought a sample of OADE Armagnac from Bruce's birth year.
Third-generation Wild Turkey distiller, Bruce Russell, immediately understood what we had brought. We cracked open the dusty samples, swapped stories between pours, and settled into the kind of afternoon you don't forget.
But we came here for a purpose. We had to get back to business and pick our barrel.
The Tiebreaker
We started tasting through each amazing barrel at cask strength: Two Camp Nelson E, a Camp Nelson D, and a Tyrone Q.
Every one of them was good. Really good. But after working through the lineup, we had to vote. The room was split dead even between barrel #2 and barrel #4. We tasted through them again. Same result. Not a single person was budging.
So we turned to Bruce.
He took a sip of each, didn't go back for another taste, and without hesitation, he walked straight to barrel #4 and put his hand on it. "This one." Three generations of Russell whiskey making behind two words. That was all we needed.
The barrel he selected was from the Camp Nelson D rickhouse, the same one that will be featured in Russell's 2026 Single Rickhouse release.
The Result
This Russell’s Camp Nelson D single barrel will always remind us of that afternoon in Lawrenceburg, and of the moment Bruce settled the room with a hand on barrel #4.
The yield came in at around 120 bottles and it will be available starting Thursday, April 9th at Five Star Liquor and Wine, in-store and online.
We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Cheers,
The Orlando Whiskey Alliance Admin Team
