Wild Turkey Distillery

The first thing to know about Wild Turkey is the Russell family. Jimmy Russell started at the distillery as an apprentice in 1954 and is still working in his 90s — making him, by Whiskycast and most other accountings, the longest-tenured active Master Distiller in the world. His son Eddie Russell joined in 1981 and is now co-Master Distiller. Eddie's son Bruce Russell is the Associate Blender. That makes Wild Turkey the only active father-son-grandson Master Distilling team in American whiskey, a fact the brand has built increasingly explicit marketing around since 2023. The corporate parent is Campari Group, which acquired Wild Turkey from Pernod Ricard in 2009 for US$575 million (about $581 million after final inventory adjustments) — the largest acquisition in Campari's history at the time. Since then, Campari has poured roughly $160 million into the Lawrenceburg site including a new production facility that will push capacity to 14 million proof gallons annually, plus the 12,000-square-foot Jimmy Russell Wild Turkey Experience visitor center that opened May 22, 2024 — the official rebrand of the visitor experience to honor Jimmy's 70th anniversary year. ## What people say about the bottles The everyday Wild Turkey lineup leads with the 101 — the cask-strength-adjacent flagship that's been on shelves since 1942 and still anchors the brand. At around $25, Wild Turkey 101 routinely ranks among the most-recommended sub-$30 bourbons in critic roundups. Beyond the standard 1…