Honest To Goodness Tasting Notes (My first try)

[MurphyDawg]

Hey guys my wife bought me a bottle of George no12 as a suprise today so i thought i would use this as the opportunity to do my first tasting notes, a comparative of the two Tennessees. . . . . i know its been done before but seemed like a good jumping off point. lemme know what you think if you like, i may do more.


Name (full):Jack Daniels Old Time Old No7 Brand Quality Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey
Proof: 86
Price: $17.90 @ Marion County State Store, Marion OH.
Bottle: Classicaly identified tall rectangular bottle with short ribbed neck. Black Label w/ white designs and script (bottled @ the distillery, Lynchburg Tenn.)
Color: Glassy Amber
Nose: Honey, Maple (candy?), floral like apple blossoms. . .intial sugar sweetness fades to smoke (hoghouse??), then to fresh earth.
Taste:LIQUORICE firtst, Earthy Moss, Chewy (like dandelions in a salad), then smoky.
Finish: Medium but Harsh(!!!) kick in the teeth of strenght, then 3 seconds of joy, then a kick in the stomach.
Mouthfeel: Nice though thin and watery.
Conclusions: Not nearly as good as I remember it and not nearly good enough to justify the price. Might be worth it if they sold it in the Jim Beam White Label price range.

Name (full): George Dickel Original Tennessee Finest Quality Sippin' Whisky Superior No. 12 Brand
Proof: 90
Price: $15.40 @ Marion County State Store, Marion OH.
Bottle: Fat Round base with a long ribbed neck, beige label with grey design and print (says it is Bottled by George Dickel & co, Lawrenceburg Indiana 47052)
Color: Golden Bronzed.
Nose: Buttery, Butterscotch, (Burned Sugar Cookies) an a smidge of lemon juice.
Taste: Sweet then blossoming like apple, then birchbark\Applewood. There seems to be an taste like lemon vitamin C drops buried there somewhere, but so slight i might be imagining. . . . .
Finish: Medium but lingering .. . .Smooth , Oily, Warming.
Mouthfeel: Very Smooth, oily, absurdly drinkable.
Conclusions: This stuff is incredibly drinkable, a very satisfying endeavor for the price. I see myself on the front porch in June, listening to a Red Sox game on the radio, throwing fetches to my dogs, as the sun sets on another great summer day, while drinking this stuff, and at $2.50 less than Jack, this is the stuff to buy!!!!!


a little note (at the state store i go to , the shelf tags reflect the final price paid, after ALL applicable taxes, so factor that into my prices)


Whadda ya think?!?!?!?!?!?
Tom C

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by MurphyDawg on Thu Apr 4 21:35:17 2002 (server time).</FONT></P>

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Good effort Tom! I always encourage folks to post their notes. Just the act of sitting down with a whiskey and seriously examining it really opens your mind up to what's going on in your glass. The more you do it the more confident you become. Then you can trust your own palete as to what tastes good to you and not rely on what some writers or magazines say/rate. Much better than saying "Oh this mag rated this whiskey a 95 so it must be good.". Then buying the bourbon and possibly be disappionted in it.

Keep it up!

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

[cowdery]

A worthy effort. Keep at it. Many people like to limit their serious tasting to newer or higher end quaffs, but I think there is a lot of merit in doing a serious evaluation of the most popular brands. I also often think tasting is too subjective to be of much value, but your notes match some of my own for those products, although what you call licorice I call shellac.

That Dickel is now coming from the old Seagrams plant in Indiana is interesting. Apparently Diageo has decided to keep that plant in operation. It is the largest and most modern of the facilities they now own, so that makes sense. Since it says "bottled," they apparently are bottling whiskey distilled in Tennessee. Will they see if they can get away with making Tennessee whiskey in Indiana? We'll see.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://cowdery.home.netcom.com>--Chuck Cowdery</A>

[MurphyDawg]

iving in ohio, most often the major brands are all i have to taste. I would agree about the subjectiveness in tastings being detremental to their usefulness, but i think they are fun to read on sites like this, because sometimes they say more about the taster than the spirit (Linn's are a good example of that)

a note of clarification too, i capitalized Liquorice (??) in the tasting because it came on strong and I am not at all a fan of that flavor, so it might as well have been shellac.

maybe if i get that bottle of old forester i will do a tasting for that. . . . .TomC

[texascarl]

Good job! And you reached the correct conclusion. Let others pay up for JD, the smart money sits on the porch with George.

[ratcheer]

"Licorice". And, licorice is good, not bad. Why do so many people not like it?

[Dave]

Agreed, texascarl. I've been trying to tell my friends here in NE Indiana of the joys of George but it's awful hard to get them away from Mr. Jack's whisky.

Whisky money is best spent on George. I find his whisky to be "cooling" to the palate unlike Jack's Burn from tongue to tummy. There must be something to chilling the Lincoln County Process!

Dave Juhl

[MurphyDawg]

i dunno, it could be a good quality, i just never really liked it, in candy or cakes or anything............just could never get used to it


oh well,
TomC

[MurphyDawg]

I was over a friends house last night who served me some George Dickel with coke, and you know what. . . . . .It was Wretched!!!!!!! I was shocked. Anyway it wound up being a good thing because now I will never add anything but ice to it ever again.

TomC

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Yeah Tom once you get used to drinking bourbon straight adding flavored mixers becomes a ghastly thing. All I add to mine is ice and sometimes a dram of water.

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.