Into the Wild: Whisky Master Distiller Eddie Russel in Manila

The distinct Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky brand Wild Turkey held a master class at the Cove Night Club in Okada Manila with its Master Distiller Eddie Russel on centre stage, passing around his knowledge and passion about bourbon to Asian audiences.

It is Russell’s third stop on an Asian tour with Wild Turkey and no inch on his face would suggest that he’s already exhausted. After his successful Master Classes in Japan and Hong Kong, Eddie toured around Intramuros in Manila and strolled through Manila Biennale, a month-long art exposition. Eddie pointed out that despite being to the Philippines a number of times, he needed to immerse with the country’s culture before speaking to the bartenders in his Master Class.

“I think [the Philippines] is a great market, so it’s a good opportunity for us and for me, as we develop markets,” Eddie shared. “I want to meet the bartenders and give them the education. The bartenders are our first brand ambassadors.” Eddie also dropped by at Yes Please in Bonifacio Global City, took over the bar, and enjoyed drinks with guests and patrons. “The more I can talk to the bartenders and educate them, the more when people come in and say, ‘I want to try this drink’, they can say, ‘We use Wild Turkey for this’ or ‘We use bourbon because of this…’. So, that’s what it’s about for me: passing out as much education as possible.”

For over thirty years, Eddie Russell has taken over his father’s post in Wild Turkey and led the brand to groundbreaking innovations. He first joined the family business when he took his spot on the lowest rung of the ladder at the company. Learning the Bourbon-making trade the way his father had before him, he was put through the paces taking on menial jobs that may have seemed irrelevant to the process then, but were everything to understanding the Wild Turkey way.

Russell spoke before a captivated crowd at the Cove Night Club, in Okada Manila. There he took guests through an interactive lecture that included the history of bourbon production in the American south. Once guests understood the history of bourbon, Russell shared Wild Turkey’s decades old secrets of the trade by breaking down every aspect of the production process- from gathering raw ingredients, to the creation of ‘Sour Mash’, and the fine art of bourbon aging.

As a treat to guests, Eddie Russell was kind enough to share his bourbon for a brief seminar on tasting. Those in attendance had the chance to enjoy four of Wild Turkey’s offerings: Wild Turkey ’81, Wild Turkey 101, Wild Turkey Rye, and Russell’s Reserve, a ten year old blend that he co-created with his father, Jimmy.

How do you feel about more people in their twenties and thirties drinking bourbon and Wild Turkey?
ER: I think it’s fantastic and it’s what’s growing our industry. For years and years, our drink was 95% of what was sold in a liquor store. It was an older gentleman who got a bottle and started drinking. Most of the time by himself. Even if he brought friends over. The cocktail culture has changed that. Ten-fifteen years ago, if you walked into any bar in America, it was always white spirits with just a little of the brown stuff on each end; you had a scotch or two and you had a couple of bourbons. Now, come to America and any bar that is doing business, its brown spirits with little white spirits sitting on each end.

How often do you host a Master Class?
ER: I do a lot of them in the States. I do travel overseas quite a bit. I’ve been amazed. Last year, I went to Austria, Switzerland- going to Ireland and sitting down with a hundred bartenders who just want to talk about bourbon. In Scotland too. It’s fascinating to go in there and talk to them. This Master Class, you can call it whatever you want to call it, but its education. I’m just trying to teach them so they can talk about it while they’re serving the drinks. It’s all I’m really trying to do.

Other alcohol brands add other flavors to their line-up. Are you planning to do that in the future?
ER: I am not. Big brands do that. Right now, even bourbons which traditionally didn’t do that, do that. My father (Wild Turkey Master Distiller, Jimmy Russell) came out with a honey-flavored bourbon in 1976. And then, ten years ago, everyone else started doing it. I don’t think it’s what Wild Turkey’s about.

Jack Daniels has done more for Coca-Cola than anybody ever has. But that was their campaign from day one. In America, when they started, they came around to the younger generations with ‘Jack & Coke’, where my dad or the bourbon guys were drinking either neat or on the rocks. So for me, I’m big into the cocktail scene. I think that’s what’s growing our industry. And I always tell them, “I don’t need the flavor. I’ll give you a great product and I’ll let the bartenders put the flavors in”, so that’s what I feel about it.

So, what are the bourbons you personally like?
ER: Well, the classic cocktails are what are really big; Manhattans, Old Fashions, Whiskey Sours. My favorite cocktail is a Boulevardier. That’s my thing. I think citrus flavors like orange or lemon go well with a bourbon. In Japan, it’s a High Ball; soda water. You know, for us in America, you don’t see that. But in Japan it’s huge. If I was going to mix one thing with a bourbon, it would be ginger ale. I think ginger ale, or ‘dry’ as they call them in Australia, goes well with a bourbon. But I don’t normally do that- I go have it neat or on the rocks.

Is there anything you’d like to say to inspire more people to drink bourbon?
ER: For me, the best thing about it now is that if you had to try out different bourbons, you had to go to a liquor store and buy a bottle. Now, the bars have them whether you want to do it in a drink, have it neat, or on the rocks.

Go to a bar and try different ones. It shocks a lot of people when I say that, but I think Wild Turkey will be one of the best ones you drink. You can try different ones and find out what your taste profile is. But once you find the one you like, get on the internet and see who made it. Because for me, I want something genuine. I don’t want something that’s marketed in stores. Go to your local bar and have a drink, and that way, you can have several different ones over time instead of going to a liquor store and spending a whole bunch on something you might not like.

Above Creative Director Matthew McConaughey

Eddie has led the charge on ground-breaking innovations for Wild Turkey, American Honey Sting and Wild Turkey Forgiven–which was awarded the Chairman’s Trophy at the Ultimate Spirits Competition. With the worldwide boom in Bourbon consumption, Eddie has his eye squarely on creating new whiskey expressions that appeal to a globally expanding consumer base, while cultivating Wild Turkey’s core expressions.

In 2010, Eddie joined his father and other greats in the Bourbon industry when he was inducted into the illustrious Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame™. A few years later, it was time for Eddie to do the honoring. In celebration of his father’s 60th anniversary at Wild Turkey in 2014, he created Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary, an outstanding limited-edition expression of 13- and 16-year-old whiskies.

Eddie and his wife Judy have two sons, and live in Lawrenceburg, where Eddie was born and raised. In his spare time, Eddie enjoys playing golf and training and hunting with bird dogs. Also, like his father, Eddie relishes in traveling the country and the world spreading the gospel of Wild Turkey to whiskey aficionados.

Tatler Asia

Into the Wild: Whisky Master Distiller Eddie Russel in Manila