George Dickel Barrel Select
Old Sweet Oily Corn Whisky
0 587
Review by @Victor
- Nose21
- Taste21
- Finish23
- Balance22
- Overall87
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- Brand: George Dickel
- Type: American
- ABV: 45%
The reviewed bottle has been open for one year, but the reviewed sample from that bottle was decanted immediately after the bottle was opened. I am a big fan of George Dickel # 12, but held off for years in getting any of the George Dickel Barrel Select for fear that it would be no better than the Dickel # 12 for twice the US price. Turns out that I was right about the price observation, though they are a bit different in style, due to differences in age and differences in the characteristics of the barrels chosen for the Barrel Select. It is useful to remember that Tennessee whiskey differs from bourbon in having been subjected to "the Lincoln County Process", a filtration of the aged whisky through a very thick layer of sugar-maple charcoal prior to bottling. This charcoal filtration removes some of the flavouring agents and leaves a sweet maple flavour residue. The age for George Dickel Barrel Select is reported to be 10 years, which is much longer aging than the 4 years which George Dickel # 12 is guaranteed to be aged
Nose: very sweet and very corn-y. Dickel uses a mashbill of 84% corn and only 8% each of rye and of malted barley. So you could very accurately call this a corn whisky...and Dickel does omit the "e" in the word 'whisky'. I notice the corn more now than I did when this bottle was first opened. Relatively light and subtle influence from wood, maple charcoal, and rye are also present
Taste: this has a very lush and oily mouthfeel, which I like very much; very sweet and very corny in the mouth, but the flavours from oak are much stronger in the mouth than in the nose. For me the oak flavours compete to the detriment of the corn flavours and produce two very smooth and attractive flavours which do not blend extremely well together
Finish: the wood flavours diminish somewhat going into the finish, which is a good thing; I prefer the finish to the palate here; a long sweet finish which ends on the taste of sweet corn; some spice from rye and some spice from wood are also present
Balance: this gets a good balance score from me because it finishes well. It appears to me that the very sweetest barrels of the George Dickel aging stock were chosen to go into the George Dickel Barrel Select. Overall I prefer George Dickel # 12 to the nearly twice as expensive (in the US) George Dickel Barrel Select. Why? The younger Dickel # 12 tends to be much drier than the Dickel Barrel Select, and that dryness seems to me to provide a better environment for the flavours of the Dickel Tennessee Whisky to harmonise together. The George Dickel Barrel Select, by contrast, is really an old very sweet corn whisky...BUT, that very age brings out more wood flavours than harmonise well with the grain flavours
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Thanks for the review I have been seeing this everywhere and I probably will spend the money elsewhere given your review and my general feeling towards Tennessee whiskeys.