Earlier this month, George Dickel announced a new addition to its whiskey portfolio: George Dickel No. 1 Foundation Recipe. This expression serves as the backbone for George Dickel’s aged whiskeys, including the No. 8, No. 12 and Barrel Select. It’s the spirit post-charcoal filtration but pre-barreling, which gives us a pure taste of the whiskey before its aromas and flavors are modified by oak. And if you’re keeping score, this makes George Dickel yet another mainstream player to enter the white whiskey category, following others like Jack Daniels Unaged Rye and Jim Beam Jacob’s Ghost.
On the nose, this crystal clear whiskey is fairly mellow without much heat. It’s full of raw corn aromas. Drink up and you’ll get plenty more corn, but this time the corn is sweeter and creamy, more like bread or a corn pudding. That corn is offset by plenty of pepper, with gives a nice bite to the whiskey while still keeping things in check, heat wise. It finishes spicy and dry.
Overall, George Dickel No. 1 is a pretty easy-going corn whiskey. It’s not overloaded with sweet corn like some others on the market, and there’s enough of a spice and grain backbone to create a solid drink from start to finish. All that’s assuming you like unaged whiskey, of course, because fans of George Dickel’s other expressions won’t find any oak notes here.
If you’d like to try some for yourself, George Dickel No. 1 will begin shipping nationwide in January.
Stats:
– 45.5% ABV
– $21.99
CE Rating: ★★★
