REP. KENT STEVENS HONORS LOCAL LEGEND JIMMY RUSSELL ON KENTUCKY HOUSE FLOOR

March 24, 2010

Frankfort, KY.- Rep. Kent Stevens (D-Lawrenceburg) yesterday filed a resolution adjourning the Kentucky House of Representatives in honor and celebration of Jimmy Russell and his 55 years of service at the Wild Turkey Bourbon Distillery.

Mr. Russell was born five miles from the Wild Turkey Bourbon Distillery and devoted his life to the distilling of fine whiskey.  He is the third generation of his family to work in the industry; he trained under the son of the distillery’s original owners and the second master distiller.

“Whiskey expert Jim Murray refers to Mr. Russell as ‘the very greatest and wisest practicing distiller in Kentucky,’” said Rep. Stevens.  “Other bourbon makers praise Mr. Russell as the master distiller’s master distiller, calling him one of the last true master distillers who learned the industry the old-fashioned way.”

Rep. Stevens told the Kentucky House of Representatives, “There is no one in Anderson County that I respect more than Mr. Russell,” and that he is “a true family man and a pillar of his community in Lawrenceburg, where he is also a deacon of the local Baptist church.  He is a horticulturist who loves tending his rose garden with Joretta, his lovely wife of over 50 years.”

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