Dickel Barrel Select

[kbuzbee]

As Thomas mentioned, DBS is in Ohio. Picked up a bottle this week. Very nice. Smooth, very sweet, nicely balanced, not much wood in it but very tasty.

Ken

[bluesbassdad]

I stopped by the mis-named Liquor Barn (should be "Liquor Coop") in Prescott, AZ today and found two displays of this bottling. Each consisted of six bottles.

I find that very surprising. This is a semi-rural area, not a hotbed of bourbonia (or Tennesse whiskey) by any means. To illustrate, I bought the last bottle of WT rye off the shelf. When I mentioned it to the manager as she checked out my purchases, she said that she stocks it two or three bottles at a time due to low demand.

I wonder whether some marketing muscle was brought to bear to get her to accept 12 bottles (that I saw) of the obscure and pricey GDBS.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[FlashPuppy]

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

Nice to see you back, Dave. Now don't forget to turn your PM's back on.:cool:

[bluesbassdad]

I had done just that. Thanks.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[Dramiel McHinson]

ProofP,

I have a bottle of the new GD Barrel Select and I did my first tasting last night. Very flavorful! I got it in a North Alabama ABC store. They brought it in as one of their many holiday selections. It is a little drier than the GD12. From my "Whisky Chronicle" notes, "The palate is warm, peppery sweet molasses and oak. In the middle is a surge of sweet spearmint and maybe orange marmalade with black unsweet tea. You taste this whiskey with a good body and mouth-feel." for the finish, I wrote, "The finish is long, warm, peppery, finishing on a drier note with vanilla candle wax." My final note, "This is classic George Dickel, lower proof than old number 12 but still warm peppery and sweet. Lots of flavor and a good finish. A splash of water tames it only a little as the pepper and oak still bust through on the palate."

I recommend it.

[ratcheer]

Thanks, Dramiel, for the heads up on the Alabama ABC having this. I will look for it.

Tim

[asnigro]

Happy to hear that. I think it is a much better choice then Jack. Been looking hard for the barrel select in Illinois with no luck. Anyone know if it is here yet?

I had done some searching in the Chicago area and came across some from the Binny's in Glen Ellyn, IL. I had to order it, it arrived in about 3 days and was $37 I think. I would assume you could order it from any Binnys in the area.

[cowdery]

I saw it the other day at Binny's on Clark Street. It was odd because they had the regular Dickel shelved with the ryes, but had the Barrel Select next to JD.

[Father&Son]

It's available in the Virginia ABC outlets. $43.95. I think I'll stick w/the GD #12 for the time being.

[Dramiel McHinson]

I took a ride out to the GD distillery the other day and after a tour I picked up the GD Barrel Select #1 bottle. This has the silk screened GD label on it. The #2 GD Barrel Select has the parchment label. Both are exceptional whiskies (GD spells whisky without the "E".)

The distillery is very small, almost a small batch operation with little or no "hi-Tech", just good ole hand made whisky by experts. The experience is made twice as wonderful by the scenery and the drive down the 1.5 lane road in Cascade Hollow. don't hold back...get a bottle of the barrel select #1 or 2 and enjoy it. If you can make it to the distillery you'll realize what a treasure this whisky really is. #12 is good stuff, no doubt, but the barrel select is their "premium" bottle. I just hope Diageo keeps them healthy and keeps them making good Tennessee sippin whisky.

Anyway, if you stop in my neck of the woods, I got a bottle you can try.

Daniel

[BourbonJoe]

I saw the Barrel Select #2 bottle in an ABC store in Spanish Fort, Alabama a couple days before new years eve. I went back on the 31st to get one and found someone had cleared off the shelf, so I never got to taste it. Of course they don't sell it in PA (or Dickel #12 for that matter) #$%^&@ beauracrats. :hot: :hot:

Joe :usflag:

[ThomasH]

I have noticed that Dickel # 12 has had a steep price increase in Ohio ever since the #8 disappeared from shelves and Barrel Select arrived. I bought a bottle of #12 a few years ago and it was about 15.00. A week or so ago I was at the store and and #12 was 22.80 a bottle, Quite a steep increase. Sort of reminds me of the price of gasoline, only gasoline eventually come back down somewhat!

Thomas

[Dramiel McHinson]

I have noticed that Dickel # 12 has had a steep price increase in Ohio ever since the #8 disappeared from shelves and Barrel Select arrived. I bought a bottle of #12 a few years ago and it was about 15.00. A week or so ago I was at the store and and #12 was 22.80 a bottle, Quite a steep increase. Sort of reminds me of the price of gasoline, only gasoline eventually come back down somewhat!

Thomas

While touring the GD distillery, my young hostess let on thay had a couple of years break in distilling, using current stocks to feed the distributors. Basically, GD #8 will disappear for a while or become very rare since they only have the older barrels and newest barrels on hand when production started again. The Barrel Select #1 and now #2 are generally selected from approximately 10 barrels per year so numbers will be limited regardless.

Current production isn't a problem but the time in the barrel needed to mature the whisky leaves a time gap that isn't going to go away for a while. All this begs the question of what Diageo's plan is to make up for the gap. The folks at GD will make as much whiskey as they can just the way they always have in the mean time. I only saw one column still and one pot still (doubler) on the tour.

If you want to see whiskey made without any technology, just a few smart people workin hard, then I recommend a trip to Cascade Hollow.

Prost Doch Mal!

Daniel

[TNbourbon]

While touring the GD distillery, my young hostess let on thay had a couple of years break in distilling,...

Dickel didn't distill from Fall 1999 till Fall 2003, four years. Thus, they currently have on hand only whiskey that is more than seven years old and whiskey less than four years old. Since the black-label #8 is, theoretically, 4-to-6-year-old whiskey, well, they don't have any.

There is still black-label #8 in the marketplace, at least in some areas -- for example, we've had no problem restocking it here in Tennessee where, unsurprisingly, it's a standard brand. But in markets such as this, they're just maintaining their place in people's loyalty -- why else should they bottle what is essentially older, higher-priced white-label #10 as anything but that?

[nickynick]

Dickel didn't distill from Fall 1999 till Fall 2003, four years. Thus, they currently have on hand only whiskey that is more than seven years old and whiskey less than four years old. Since the black-label #8 is, theoretically, 4-to-6-year-old whiskey, well, they don't have any.

There is still black-label #8 in the marketplace, at least in some areas -- for example, we've had no problem restocking it here in Tennessee where, unsurprisingly, it's a standard brand. But in markets such as this, they're just maintaining their place in people's loyalty -- why else should they bottle what is essentially older, higher-priced white-label #10 as anything but that?

The recent article in The Malt Advocate states that Dickel #8 is 8 to 10 years old. #12 is 10 to 12 and the Barrel Select is 11 to 12 years old. It also states that one of the ways that they are trying to combat the stock issue is that the #8 will only be sold in the top 10 markets.

http://www.dickel.com/NR/rdonlyres/97E04955-00D2-4302-AC19-FA36AD886032/0/GD_MaltAdvocate1.pdf

http://www.dickel.com/NR/rdonlyres/DB2C7F5C-2D56-4E0E-9DDB-8B738BD4B58F/0/MaltAdvocate2.pdf

There ar two parts to the story. Its an interesting article. Lets just hope they keep the good stuff coming. The Barrel Select is one of the finest whiskies I have had. And the #12 isn't bad either.

[TNbourbon]

...white-label #10 ...

Oops -- I meant #12, of course.

[boss302]

Of course they don't sell it in PA (or Dickel #12 for that matter) #$%^&@ beauracrats.

I agree with you, Joe. It his high time the liquor distribution in PA gets privatized!!!!!

PA beer distributors-- privately-owned, overwhelming selection (at least in my area)!

PLCB state stores-- state-controlled, underwhelming selection, even at the "Premium Collection" stores...

The store close to me carried Dickel back in 2005 and early 2006. Then it, apparently, got "de-listed" by the PLCB. What a joke. :hot:

[Dangermonkey]

In reference to a earlier question please check my reviews:

http://www.spiritsreview.com/reviews-whisky-tennessee-dickel-special-barrel.html

http://www.spiritsreview.com/reviews-whisky-tennessee-dickel-barrel-select.html

I found the Barrel Select to be much better side by side than the Special Barrel and I reflect that in my ratings but I did not write a side by side piece.

Vol 15 #4 of Malt Advocate (Late 2006 issue) also has a big article on Dickel.I think part of the price hike recently (on all of them) is due to the increased publicity they received and the fact they are approaching a inventory gap.One way to bleed out the supply over the gap is to raise prices and slow buying. (O.K. that is the nice way to put it)

[OscarV]

Last week I was in Tennessee and went to the Dickel distillery at Cascade Hollow in Tullahoma.

Very nice tour given us by Brandi (maybe a y?).

The site is small, but very attractive.

For me the highlight of the tour was when we were taken to the vats where the Lincoln County Process was taking place, Brandi moved the lid on the vat up and down, (only slightly opening it), and we could smell the White Dog mingling with the maple charcoal, a very fruity smell, nice.

I got two bottles at the gift shop, a No. 1 Limited Edition George Dickel Barrel Select. As the neck rider says,... "This hancrafted bottle was designed to commemorate the re-opening of the distillery in October 2004." It will be a while before I drink this.

But I will not go thirsty, because I also got a George Dickel Barrel Select, the one that is widely available, that is if you are in the wide available area.(hehe)

Good whisky! See the above post for a link with a more literate review.

The one thing that stands out to me is the mouth feel, similar to scotch, it has that fatness to it.

Yep, had a good time in TN, we stayed at the Peabody in Memphis, saw the ducks go in for the night, the bar had Knob Creek so that went well with duck viewing. Did Beale Street, I've never been to Bourbon Street but I'll bet it is similar, a lot of spilled beer stains,(ain't I nice saying spilled beer). Ate at the Rendezvous and Neely's, (2 different nights), loved both places. Breakfast at the Blue Plate was good to, can't go wrong with country ham.

Went to the Civil Rights Museum, Stax Soul Museum, Sun Records but no time for a Memphis Redbird game. Also wanted to go to the Elmwood Cemetary where Shelby Foote is buried and Confederate Soldiers, but they were closed for some sort of make-over.

And,..... we took it down even farther to Oxford, Mississippi.

Stayed at the Oxford Inn, went to Rowan Oak, William Faulkner's home, very interesting, in his writing room there was a book outline still on the wall.

But the real reason we came here was to see Mofro, hell yes 'dey be funky. Saw 'em at a "club" with all the little college kids, Oxford is where the U of Miss is. I once heard that the most beautiful women in the world are at Ole Miss, and I can't deny it, they were all tall and blonde. My wife said this must be where the Stepford Wives Robot Factory is. (She is a jelous Yankee girl).

Back to Mofro, they are self proclaimed swamp crackers from Lochloosa, Florida. I highly reccomend their Lochloosa CD. It is by far the best CD I have got in a while. We were sippin' Buds and doing shoulder shrugs till 1 am central, that's 2 to my Michigan body.

Also ate at Petra's one of the best Middle-Eastern resturants I've ever dined at,... in Mississippi, go figure.

uh-oh, looks like I ran long and got off topic,... out

[smokinjoe]

"Very nice tour given to us by Brandi (maybe a y)?

The site is small but very attractive."

Uh, which one are you referring to?

JOE

[BourbonJoe]

We opened a "first generation" Barrel select at Fricky's house, alongside the #12. I must say that after considerable judgement, I liked the #12 better. I was not alone in that opinion.

Joe :usflag:

[OscarV]

This may be difficult to answer, but what do you think Dickel would taste like if they didn't run it through the maple charcoal?

Which bourbon do you think it would be closest to?

[cowdery]

The guy who set up the current Dickel distillery and who was the first master distiller there was a Schenley guy whose previous assignment was at Bernheim in Louisville, so my guess would be Old Charter/I.W. Harper.

[OscarV]

To me there is a Heaven Hill type nose, an Evan Williams type mint.

[CrispyCritter]

I'd think it would be something like Elmer T. Lee.