Pours a clear golden orange color with big legs. Smells quite oaky, lots of wood, vanilla, coconut, caramel, rye spice, something a little bready and mineraly too. Taste has a nice rich caramel and molasses sort of thing going on, minerals, a little spicebox in the middle and finish. Oaky without being overly so, which is certainly in my wheelhouse. Mouthfeel is rich and coating, lots of alcohol heat, but in a pleasant, mellow way, with a finish that lasts a while. Overall, this is fabulous stuff, complex and balanced, great. Compares favorably to my favorite bourbons. Beer Nerd Musings: The notion of each batch being unique (and not just from a “each single barrel is unique” sort of situation) is interesting and certainly speaks to the explosion of craft beer offerings. I mean, it’s not Tired Hands with their ~300 different named beers a year, but there’s something to be said for the experience of drinking something you know you’ll probably never get again. I have not ever had a beer aged in a George Dickel barrel, but they do exist, even if they don’t seem particularly common. There are some beers that only specify being aged in a Tennessee whiskey barrel, which I suppose could also mean Dickel. If this bourbon is any indication, I think these barrels would work pretty well with beer (though this is perhaps too good to waste on homebrew!)