George Dickel 11 Year Bottled in Bond Tennessee Whisky (Fall 2008)

I was actually a fan of the 13yr old 1st batch (seems like I’m a minority). I’m excited to see how this 11yr follow up batch will compare. The nose has dusty buttered corn, dried apricot, caramel, a slight alcohol burn on the nostrils, brown sugar, oak spice and vanilla. The palate is sweet and oily with sweet buttered corn, quite a bit of dried fruit, oak spice, leather. Some of the sips I pick up a little ethanol, but not always. The finish is long with lingering with dried apricots and apples along with corn and some spicy oak. Then there is some nice barrel char later on. There is an ethanol burn up into the nostrils when you first swallow which makes it come off a little hotter than 100 proof (as did the last batch), but it didn’t bother me. Ok, I was expecting this to be fairly similar to the last release, but it is pretty different. The last one was very artificial buttered popcorn and caramel (which I liked), where this one has real buttered corn but has nice dried fruit and oak spices (which I also like). I think this batch will appeal to a wider group of people and might possibly help turn the negative associations some people have with the brand.

Weird taste, but good!

I anticipated giving this a 4.25 or 4.5 for my separate bottle kill review, but I believe in the month since it's been open the flavors and smells have all been turned down a couple notches. It's still a really good whiskey, but I liked it more when I first opened it. The GD Hand Selected Barrel is holding up better over time. I'm getting more oak and ethanol this time around, and less baking spice. The corn sweetness is a bit drier at the moment. Finish it still medium with big tannic flavors. All in all a great value whiskey, pick one up if you see it because it flies off the shelves here in NC.