George Dickel Barrel Select Whisky is a small-batch Tennessee whiskey that’s created each year with the intention of being an extra smooth, mellow expression for the George Dickel line. In creating this product, Master Distiller John Lunn selects about 10 barrels of the most mellow whiskey, each aged 10 to 12 years. It’s double-distilled and then charcoal filtered before barreling. So, yeah, a lot goes into producing an extra smooth spirit. Let’s see how they did.
(A side note about the lack of ‘e’ in whisky — George Dickel spells it that way. So does Makers Mark, for that matter. It’s not the common spelling among American whiskey brands, but hey, to each their own.) Now, onto the tasting.
At first approach, the Barrel Select hits you with a spicy nose and a lot of corn — no surprise there, given this whiskey’s high proportion of corn in the mashbill. There’s also a nice vanilla sweetness in the nose. Upon tasting, it hits you at first like a playful slap. There’s a mild bite that quickly mellows out to flavors of baking spices, oaky vanilla and maple sweetness. It finishes clean and smooth with a fresh, almost minty taste, plus a hint of smoke. Overall: this is easy-drinking stuff that will have you going back for more.
George Dickel Barrel Select is a fine candidate for enjoying neat. It’s a smooth dram that doesn’t need to be watered down or masked with a mixer, but if you must, a couple cubes won’t kill it. And for any friends or my fellow ladies who may be intimidated by whiskey, slide this one along the bar in their general direction. It’s smooth enough to open the whiskey gates for novice drinkers.
Stats:
– 43% Alcohol by Volume
– $40
