Wild Turkey’s Jimmy Russell Honored By His Own As Living Legend

We live in an era of great expansion in the whiskey world. New bottlings and distilleries are coming along all the time. In Kentucky, though, there are still some left from the old school, those who’ve been through the thin and thick and thin of it again as the industry has gone through its highs and lows. Perhaps most senior of this group, and certainly among the most respected, is Wild Turkey master distiller Jimmy Russell. The man is a force of whiskey nature, still involved as he can be in his golden years helping to produce bourbon and rye. Now the world which calls him their own, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, has honored him with a lifetime achievement nod.

Russell was among a select group of individuals honored recently by the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame for their work in the state’s signature industry. While all of their undertakings are important, Jimmy Russell stands out, particularly because he was also this year’s recipient of the Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement award.

“Jimmy’s willingness to help educate succeeding generations of Master Distillers is legendary,” said Chris Morris, chairman of the KDA Board of Directors and master distiller at Brown-Forman, in a prepared statement. “He is our link to many of the traditions of the past that make our industry so special.”

We’ve already done our fair share of coverage on Russell and his son Eddie in previous stories, so I’ll leave it to you to read those to get a flavor for him. What I will offer here, though, is the viewpoint of the industry as captured in a news release from the KDA:

Russell, now in his 62nd year making whiskey at Wild Turkey, was honored with the Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award. He was elected a charter member of the Hall of Fame in 2001 and a Lifetime Honorary Member of the KDA Board in 2014.

During his esteemed tenure, Russell has been responsible for the creation and launch of renowned Bourbons, such as Tradition, Tribute, Rare Breed, American Honey, Kentucky Spirit and Russell’s Reserve, which he co-created with his distilling partner and son, Eddie.

Known among peers as the “Buddha of Bourbon” and a true champion of the industry, Russell has received numerous awards around the world for his dedicated craftsmanship and lifelong support of Kentucky and its famous export.

“Jimmy and I have known each other for over 50 years,” said Parker Beam, for who the lifetime achievement award was named after. “I have nothing but respect and admiration for Jimmy and his family. I am proud to have him be the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award that the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame named for me last year, particularly since we both have literally spent our lifetimes working in this industry.”

“It is truly an honor and a privilege to receive this award because not only is Parker a true Kentucky legend, but one of my closest friends,” Russell said. “We grew up over Bourbon together, and I’ve lost count on the number of evenings we’ve swapped stories over a glass of my whiskey or his whiskey. All I can tell you is there have been a lot of laughs.”