Is it possible that I like Dickel?

[flahute]

You all know my stance on George Dickel Whisky. (Yes, they don't use an 'e') I complain about that vitamin note.

Well I'm here to admit that I found one I like. I just returned from a Kentucky/Tennessee trip doing various barrel picks and I made my first ever visit to George Dickel Distillery and did my first ever barrel pick there.

The distillery itself was not open to tours so we only saw the outside. (Small, but pretty cool looking if you like that industrial look as I do). (Also, the distillery is usually open for tours but not during covid as they can't risk a positive test in their workforce which will shut down production for a period of time.) In fact, everything was shut down to the public so we were the only people there.

 

We tasted through 8 samples - four of them were 9yr 100 proof, the other four were 15+ yr at barrel proof. We tasted blind as we always do.

Out of the 8 I only got the vitamin note on 2 of them. I did discover that one of my friends is more sensitive to the vitamin than I am as he tasted it on more of them including the winner. (For the record, he likes it so it's not a negative to him.)

I was really impressed by what I was tasting. In the end we chose a winner - sample #7 - and it was revealed to be a 17+ yr bourbon at 96.2 proof. I took a sample bottle home with me and tried it the next morning on a fresh palate to confirm and oh boy, all coconut cream pie on the palate and finish.

 

So there it is..........I like Dickel. Nobody tell Jeff or smokinjoe because they will say "told ya so!"

[B.B. Babington]

1 hour ago, flahute said:

...I was really impressed by what I was tasting. In the end we chose a winner - sample #7 - and it was revealed to be a 17+ yr bourbon at 96.2 proof. I took a sample bottle home with me and tried it the next morning on a fresh palate to confirm and oh boy, all coconut cream pie on the palate and finish.So there it is..........I like Dickel. Nobody tell Jeff or smokinjoe because they will say "told ya so!"

 

As one NOOB dick head to another, I'm officially jealous.  I bet the 17 is awesome.  

[Rhettro]

Welcome to the club. We’re glad to have ya. 

[HoustonNit]

Need to sneak into this club and give it another spin.  That 8yr bourbon is calling my name.

[bayouredd]

Blasphemy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I do have a Barrel Bourbon that is Dickel sourced that is pretty good. The mineral is more like mushrooms but it is 14yr & truly the "smoothest" thing that I have on my shelf.

Weaknesses are abound!!!

[Paddy]

Welcome, Steve!  It’s about damn time.

[mbroo5880i]

Maybe you just had a vitamin deficiency.  Your body knows what it needs and in this case it was Dickel Whisky.

[Marekv8]

Boom— there you go. Tullahoma is such an awesome spot, it’s the closest thing we’ve got to Craigellachie. Glad to have you. 

[smokinjoe]

A Dickel without the vitamin note is not a Dickel.  Therefore, you probably still do not like Dickel….

[flahute]

17 hours ago, Marekv8 said:

Boom— there you go. Tullahoma is such an awesome spot, it’s the closest thing we’ve got to Craigellachie. Glad to have you. 

The surrounding rolling hill country and the holler the distillery sits in (complete with a creek full of swimming snakes) is quite beautiful. I would have loved to walk around more if we had extra time.

[flahute]

6 hours ago, smokinjoe said:

A Dickel without the vitamin note is not a Dickel.  Therefore, you probably still do not like Dickel….

Hey now - my friend on the pick who is a regular Dickel drinker did taste the vitamin note so it is in fact a Dickel! 

[smokinjoe]

50 minutes ago, flahute said:

Hey now - my friend on the pick who is a regular Dickel drinker did taste the vitamin note so it is in fact a Dickel! 

That don’t count!  I’m callin’ Foul on that, Bro!!  

[kaiserhog]

I too love George Dickel.   Diageo does treat Dickel as an afterthought but that maybe a strength rather than a weakness.  No interference to distillers from the corporate office.  They are doing some great things in Tullahoma.`

[HoustonNit]

On 8/21/2021 at 2:14 PM, flahute said:

The surrounding rolling hill country and the holler the distillery sits in (complete with a creek full of swimming snakes) is quite beautiful. I would have loved to walk around more if we had extra time.

I’m looking at pictures and truly a perfect combination of rolling hills with a n industrial looking facility which I really like.  I think I need to go.

[Mano]

Some Dickel bottled in Bond 2007 available to buy for me right now ( not available locally ) for $60/bottle. 

Do you all think this is reasonable and worth picking up a few bottles? 

[B.B. Babington]

6 hours ago, Mano said:

Some Dickel bottled in Bond 2007 available to buy for me right now ( not available locally ) for $60/bottle. 

Do you all think this is reasonable and worth picking up a few bottles? 

Some people paying $40-45.  If you like strong flavor and wood, I'd say get a bottle to try.  Even if you don't like it, it'll be education.  The 15 year is good also.  The 13 year BIB is not completely consistent across board so you might get a great one or less so.  I've recently discovered that if it's hot, let it air in the glass a couple minutes and it becomes a much tamer more flavorful animal.

 

I'll post link below, it it doesn't work, go to topic: George Dickel Bourbon

George Dickel BOURBON - Page 2 - General Bourbon Discussion - Straightbourbon.com

[BigRich]

20 hours ago, Mano said:

Some Dickel bottled in Bond 2007 available to buy for me right now ( not available locally ) for $60/bottle. 

Do you all think this is reasonable and worth picking up a few bottles? 

It depends on how much you like Dickel.  Personally, I $40 like it.  I don't $60 like it. 

[fishnbowljoe]

First impressions are hard to get over. I bought a bottle of Dickle 12 yr years ago. The vitamin flavor was overwhelming. Try as I might, I just couldn’t develop a taste for it. There was a good 3/4 of that bottle remaining when I gifted to a bowling buddy that was a huge JD fan. He loved it. Go figure. I haven’t bought a bottle since.

 

Biba! Joe

[PaulO]

You guys have really got me thinking.  Maybe I should grab a bottle of GD #12 at the next Kroger sale, or look for a 50ml in a liquor store.

In the past my experience was similar to Joe.  

[steven s]

i can't tolerate even a bit of that vitamin note. i've tried many times with different iterrations. Not to say I won't try again somewhere down the road.

[Shizzy]

The subject of this thread always makes me smirk when I read it.  I ask myself that question all the time when I approach my bar as a 13 year old BiB taunts me from the front.  I almost always say, "no" and select something else.  There are very few Dickel expressions I can drink on their own merit, sourced or not.  Barrell seems to do an amazing job and blending the "ick" out of Dickel.  I've yet to have anything older than a 15 year and sadly the 15 year I have still has the "ick" in it.  Come to think of it, that's a Barrell product.  Forget what I said about them.  Carry on.

[HoustonNit]

I bought the 8 year bourbon labeled and liked it.  Didn’t get any vitamin note.  
 
Really sweet but I like that.  Had my wife give to me blind with a Knob Creek and I preferred the Dickel.

 

Last bottle I bought was the BIB when it came out and while not as noticeable as others I did pick up the vitamin note.

[B.B. Babington]

10 hours ago, HoustonNit said:

I bought the 8 year bourbon labeled and liked it.  Didn’t get any vitamin note.  ...
Really sweet but I like that.  Had my wife give to me blind with a Knob Creek and I preferred the Dickel....

Since I've become recent dick head, picked up new #8, #12, and 9 yr barrel select,

 

didn't note vitamin in any

 

9 yr hot out of bottle, little interest, 0 aftertaste

#12 good, great flavor, nice after

#8 super good for the $$, great up front though sometimes too sweet, great aftertaste, my fav! of the 3!!

 

this is after sxsxsxsbxbxbxbxsxbxbxbxsxsxs so take it what it's worth. yes, still walking but Dickel BIB calling my name

[fosmith]

I think I may like Dickel as well.  I recently picked up a 15 yr SiB at 96.2 proof and, wow, is it packed with flavor.  Extremely deep, layered and complex on the nose with a spicy, fruity palate and long finish.  Yes, you can tell it's Dickel, but not in a bad way.  It's less artificial vitamin than mineral complexity.  I did not take to the first 13yr BiB because of the strong vitamin note but the 15 yr reminds me of the Dickel sourced Barrell 13 (or 14) yr SiB store pick which was really delicious. 

[Bob_Loblaw]

On 8/20/2021 at 1:34 PM, flahute said:

I complain about that vitamin note.

 

1 hour ago, fosmith said:

It's less artificial vitamin than mineral complexity.  

I was always turned off by the vitamin flavors as well.  I was impressed with the BBC Discovery 5 which blended in 17 year Dickel, but the minerality was not present so as @smokinjoe notes that one doesn't count. 

 

Yesterday I was looking for a low proof sipper on a hot muggy day so I poured a 15 yr 84pf Dickel Single Barrel over ice and it filled the role nicely.  Caramel, fruit and fosmith perfectly summed up the minerality element.  Maybe I am just getting acclimated to the taste and my palate knows what to expect, but it was an excellent pour.  When I went back for more ice I noticed my 4R freezer bottle so that was the end of the Dickel.   Although I think I am going to go put the rest of the Dickel into the freezer and see how it is cold.