How Russell's Reserve Revamped Its Single Rickhouse Formula For Camp Nelson D
Eddie Russell has cast a wider net for Camp Nelson D, blending barrels from five floors to create a bourbon that drinks surprisingly like a rye
October 12, 2026 –––––– Sean Evans
For four years, Russell’s Reserve has explored the influence of warehouse location on whiskey maturation by narrowing its focus. Each installment of its coveted Single Rickhouse Collection has drawn barrels from one or two floors at a specific location in its Camp Nelson warehouse complex to showcase how differences in elevation, airflow, and temperature can shape a bourbon’s character. For the fifth release, master distiller Eddie Russell flipped that approach, drawing barrels from five floors of Camp Nelson D to create a rye flavor profile.
Meet Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse 2026 Camp Nelson D, a 120.8-proof bourbon that Russell says tastes remarkably like a rye whiskey.
The Single Rickhouse collection debuted in 2022 with Camp Nelson C, selected from floors three and four, considered the warehouse’s sweet spot. Camp Nelson F followed in 2023, with barrels from the fourth and fifth floors, where abundant airflow influenced maturation. In 2024, Russell turned to the sixth floor of Camp Nelson B, where greater exposure to heat and sunlight produced pronounced honey and char notes. Last year’s Camp Nelson E explored whiskey matured on the fifth floor of a cooler, more shaded warehouse. Bottled at 128 proof, it became Single Rickhouse’s highest-proof release to date.
Camp Nelson D takes the experiment a step further, exploring what happens when whiskey matured under different conditions throughout the same building is brought together. Built in 1946, Camp Nelson D occupies an elevated, west-facing position on the property, relatively isolated from neighboring warehouses. That location allows strong, consistent airflow through the building, creating an aging environment distinct from those previously featured in the series.
“Camp Nelson D was the first rickhouse I ever worked in at Camp Nelson when I started as a union employee 45 years ago, so coming back to it for this release meant a lot to me,” Russell said in a statement. Rather than concentrating on a particular section of the warehouse, Russell and his team selected barrels from floors one, three, four, five, and six, the broadest vertical selection in the collection’s history. The decision was driven by what they discovered during tasting, particularly in an unlikely location: the ground floor.
“We don’t typically draw from the first floor,” Russell says. “But some of the barrels we tasted down there contributed an earthy character that helped build the spicy, rye-like profile we found ourselves chasing. Once we realized what was developing, we leaned into it. This is the first Single Rickhouse release where, tasted blind, you'd bet it was a rye.”
That’s a notable transformation for a bourbon made with Wild Turkey’s standard mashbill of 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malted barley. According to the distillery, Camp Nelson D opens with aromas of baked fruit, apple, vanilla, and baking spices, followed by cinnamon, clove, stone fruit, and rye bread. Pepper, spicy oak, and lingering rye spice appear during the medium-length finish. (We’ll update this story with our tasting notes shortly.)
Non-chill filtered and bottled at barrel proof, Camp Nelson D adds another dimension to the collection’s ongoing examination of whiskey terroir. Whereas previous editions showed how individual locations within a warehouse could produce distinctive flavors, this release explores how those differences can be combined to create something greater than the sum of their parts.
Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse 2026 Camp Nelson D is available in limited quantities at select U.S. retailers and the Wild Turkey Distillery visitor center for a suggested retail price of $300.
