George Dickel 8 Year Bourbon

N: Woody and nutty. Caramel, toffee, almond, oak, peanuts. Pretty straightforward - generally seems to be light on more complex scent combinations. There may be some candy corn and something like a peanut butter cup (and/or peanut brittle) going on. Cherries emerge as it sits in the glass - and they emerge smashed on a dried out piece of firewood (so there is some complication in it). P: Dry with a wood influence that I would call stout - it's not overwhelming, but it does give the bourbon a nice backbone. And it's more wood than I've come to expect from Dickel. Beyond the wood, you get smooth peanut (almost peanut butter), almond, sweet corn, vanilla, toffee, and some mild baking spices. A bit wimpier in the middle with a watery mouthfeel. Finish has a roast coffee bitterness with sour cherries. Wood tannins pucker the cheeks. There's some generally tasteless heat that just burns toward the end of the pour. Relatively short finish. The peanut character is there to let you know it's a Dickel, but that wood backbone is something different for the brand (in my fairly limited experience). The end result is just an okay bourbon. There's nothing terribly wrong with it, but nothing really stands out either. In terms of value, could stand to shave a few dollars off the price - $30-40 is a really competitive range (e.g. Knob Creek 9 Year, Eagle Rare (sometimes), Heaven Hill BIB) and this would fare better in the $20-30 range. There's plenty in that lower range that drinks much younger than this. At $25, this could be a pretty good standby, repeatable bourbon.

Easy to sip. Good value whiskey. Pair it with dry roasted hazelnuts and you could bring out more sweetness and tone down mineral taste.

Sweet, nice smooth and affordable. Well done and very drinkable