George Dickel 15 Year Tennessee Single Barrel

Super smooth. One of the best I've ever tasted.

Rating: 15/23 I'm very curious to see how this is in comparison with my 15 year old single barrel bottle of Resilient that was sourced from Dickel. The Resilient was bottled a few percent higher ABV, but nothing else was done differently from what has been done here, to my knowledge. N: So much wood. It's bitter and toasty. Oak for days. Dry. Peanut shells with hints of peanut. Minerals in that Dickel vitamin range, bringing in a light tartness. P: Not that viscous, but very full with plenty of those usual Dickel flavors, but much more tannic than usual. Although I do like this profile, the tannins are a bit overwhelming. Toasty with spicy (cinnamon, black pepper, a bit of nutmeg) notes, vitamins, a bit of brown sugar. There's too much oak here though. I like the other flavors, but the bitter oak is a bit too strong. Peanut shells with a dash of peanut, but those oak tannins are still too strong. This is good, but it sadly tastes like someone let the barrel age for too long and its proof dropped too low. It's over-oaked. F: Bitter, astringent tannins. Some faint peanut/peanut shells. Minerals come out with some vitamins. Very faint bitter cinnamon eventually, but that's kind of a stretch. - Conclusion - It's unfortunate, but this is too tannic. I'm not sure whether increasing the proof would help it or whether this is just over-oaked. It's a shame because there's a lot to like here. This is fuller than George Dickel Bottled In Bond (16/23), but it's also more tannic. Woodinville Rye (16/23) is a bit thinner than this while also dealing with lots of woody, toasty flavor. The Woodinville's flavor seems more balanced and generally tasty though, so I prefer it. I'm looking at a 15 or 16 here. Upon further comparison, this could be a 14. Sadly, this is over-oaked, so a 16 just is not happening here. I think that a higher proof would have really helped here (something in the 55-60% range), but I think what happened was that this was bottled at barrel proof and that was just too low (otherwise, I'm not sure how they chose 48.1%, particularly considering how overly-low that tastes). This is so much more mature than Elijah Craig Small Batch (15/23)...but this is also too mature. I'm inclined to go with the 15 here. I could even imagine going down to a 14, but I think a 15 is right.

Carmel, vanilla, and a nose like holiday cake batter. Full bodied, sweet and spicy. One of my favorites.

Nose: caramel and baking spices Palate: sugar and some tobacco/oak. Kind of thin Finish: medium and vanilla finish Overall: it’s not as bad as some reviews read but it’s not amazing either. It’s probably right in the middle

Last nights tasting not great. Todays not much better. Hoping It would improve. Spicy like a rye. Not my thing. Bummed I paid what I did for something that will end up in old fashioneds.