George Dickel No 12 age?

[Bob]

Dave,

I'm among the crowd here that likes George Dickle #12. Beyond that, I really don't like any other TN whiskies.

Bob

[OneCubeOnly]

I'm among the crowd here that likes George Dickle #12. Beyond that, I really don't like any other TN whiskies.

I've tasted JD Black, JD Single Barrel, and Dickel #12. Of those, the Dickel is the only one I really cared for either. I'd buy it again, but more for a 'change of pace' than as a competitor for true bourbon.

[bourbonv]

I like Tennessee Whisky and particularly like the George Dickel products. That could be my prejudice for having worked for the company and spending many great days at the distillery with reporters and other overseas guests while at U.D.
The Dickel 8 was simply a 6-8 yo product at a lower proof. I think 80 proof is too low for any product so I prefer the Dickel 12. The Special Barrel Reserve was also the same whisky as the Dickel 12 at a lower proof.

The problem with the age question is that certain barrels age better than others. If you could pick and choose your barrels, then a 12 or 15 year old Dickel may be an outstanding product, but since all of their product is getting older than it was designed to be, then you have the not so good going in the product as well as the really good whisky. With that said, I still prefer the Dickel 12 with the lower quality over any of the Jack Daniel products, but would rate JD Single barrel next on my list followed by Dickel Special Barrel Reserve, Dickel 8, JD Black and finally Gentalman Jack.
Mike Veach

[tlsmothers]

I must say that I prefer GD in either form over JD Black when drinking neat. JD smells strongly of bananas to me. JD can work well in cocktails such as whiskey sours and Jack & Ginger. I usually go for the GD#12 but sometimes on a hot day the #8 hits the spot. Of the three JD bottles, I prefer the SB.

[brian12069]

Yesterday I was in a local liquor store and you know the tasting notes they put below the bottles sometimes?...well, it was below the Dickel #8 bottle and it said the #8 was eight years old and the #12 was twelve years old.

[cowdery]

below the Dickel #8 bottle and it said the #8 was eight years old and the #12 was twelve years old.

That's clearly what they would like you to believe but it's BS.

[bourbonv]

Chuck,
In the archive at U.D. there are papers that explain why Dickel is #8 and #12. They wanted to give it a number (to copy Old #7) and did a trademark search. These are the two numbers that had a clear slate and could be trademarked without legal difficulties. Age of product was never a factor in picking these numbers.
Mike Veach

[cowdery]

Logic would beg to differ somewhat. While a 9 would have been as good as an 8, or a 14 as good as a 12, a 2 or 29 probably wouldn't have been as useful. In other words, they wanted numbers that would imply long aging, even though the choice of the particular numbers was dictated by what could be legally cleared.

[bourbonv]

Chuck,
You are right to an extent with your logic. They did look at all number less than 21. They also had some historical precident. During prohibition they bought the last of the Jack Daniel whiskey and were going to bottle it as Jack Daniel #7. Lem Motlow sent them a letter saying they could not do that because he owned the trademark (This letter is in the archive). They did some research and found out the trademark was only for the "Old #7" and not the Jack Daniel name, so they bottled it as Jack Daniel Old #8. The letter they sent to Motlow was not very complimentary when they told him what they were going to do. I think you can now better understand why they sold out to Brown-Forman even though Schenley offered them more money.
Mike Veach

[tlsmothers]

That misinformation is prolly lack of education on both the sales rep and the store owner's parts. When I lead a Dickel Duel at LeNell's earlier this year, my Dickel rep showed up telling people that same BS. I had to pull him aside and educate him before letting him talk to any of my customers.