Wild Turkey’s Bruce Russell speaks to Kim Berry about the first release from the new Austin Nichols Archives Collection.
Wild Turkey associate master blender and third generation bourbon maker, Bruce Russell’s annual trip to Australia had a special focus this year. While here to mark the release of the Gold Foil Edition – a spirit inspired by some of the brand’s most iconic vintages from the 1980s and 90s – it is also the first project to carry Bruce Russell’s name as its creator. The 4000 bottles earmarked for Australia have all-but sold out.
“Austin Nichols Archives has been a labour of love, and I’m excited to finally share it with bourbon lovers everywhere. Gold Foil Edition was the perfect bourbon to launch the collection. Inspired by a personal favourite of mine and of many Wild Turkey fans, I drew on everything I’ve learned from my father and grandfather to create a whiskey that honours the Wild Turkey legacy,” he says.
That legacy has been forged in three main markets – the US, Australia and Japan. During Jimmy and Eddie Russell’s careers – Bruce’s grandfather and father – 98 per cent of the brand’s volume was sold in those three. And according to Russell, Australia has a special place in Wild Turkey’s heart.
“All we can do is do our best, make great products, promote those great products, build relationships with our people. That’s worked since the 1860s.”
As the company looks to expand into new markets and more deeply into others, Russell says Wild Turkey is looking to the template it built in Australia.
“The cans only exist here. It is a huge part of our business but one that only exists in Australia,” he says.
“We’re now looking at South America, Europe and moving further into Asia, and in each instance, the question we ask is what the local equivalent of the Australian can might be. In South America we’ve floated a fruit-driven format and for Europe, a still, tea-based product because carbonation is less of a default for those consumers.”
Russell says for bartenders it is important to understand the role of different formats. For Wild Turkey, the can is an entry point, not the destination. Meaning, someone meets the brand in a mixed format, decides they like it, then looks for the bottle at a bar or a bottle shop.
“The hard part with a 101 proof bourbon is getting the first taste to happen. If we can get somebody to drink a bottle of 101, Russell’s 10, or a Rare Breed, that is a win because it’s really great liquid, but you need the entry point to trigger the initial interest,” he says.
Ten years out, not two
There is a bigger structural change happening for Wild Turkey as well, with a new distillery opening next year. There is a visitor experience component but also capacity to produce new liquid. A dedicated innovation team is also working on a much longer horizon.
“We’re looking 10 years down the road now, and that was not a thing in Dad’s career. Most of our innovation was done two years beforehand,” Russell says.
On external pressures – excise here and the threat of tariffs into the EU, Russell drew a line between what the company manages and what the distillery does. Jimmy Russell has worked at the plant since 1954, turns 92 shortly, and is in his 72nd year on the job.
“All we can do is do our best, make great products, promote those great products, build relationships with our people. That’s worked since the 1860s.”
Russell counts the current conditions as the fourth downturn he has seen the brand work through. He is unbothered by the moderation numbers, arguing that a shift toward more considered drinking favours anyone making something worth considering.
The collectors imprint
When it comes to Wild Turkey afficianados, Russell says Australia’s fan base is the most intense in the world. There are serious collectors in Japan and Korea paying to import bottles and hunting vintage merchandise, and the US is home to a full-time Wild Turkey commentator, but according to Russell, “Nothing is like the Australian fan. They’re on a whole other level”.
The group formerly known as the Wild Turkey Adorers, now the Wild Turkey Collectors Club, is not just a mailing list. Russell says the local team brings club members into brand plans, marketing and point of sale development, on the basis that they know what the actual drinker wants. About 20 members contacted him directly in the fortnight before he landed.
That relationship traces back to a period when the category was not in demand. Australian collectors picked up the brand in the late 80s and early 90s, when American whiskey had little consumer following here and what did sell was mostly in cans. Jimmy Russell came out once a year and spent the time with them.
The fan base also names the bottles. Cheesy Gold Foil, Beyond Duplication, Split Label, Christmas, Fantail, Donut. None of them were company language.
“They’re fan given, and so they mean a lot to us, and our fans,” he says.
Wild Turkey is distributed in Australia by Campari Group.
