Rating: 13/23 OK, I just noticed that Dickel is spelling it "whisky" (without an "e"). I'm still confused by this, but mostly I just wish that everyone would agree on one way to spell this word. This does not affect my rating; it's just a thing. N: I get a bit of light but generic rye smell with herbal and floral scents that occasionally veer into soap territory. A bit of mineral as well. Overall, it doesn't smell all that complex, but it generally smells refreshing and like it has a lot of rye. It certainly does smell young though. P: I get the rye from the nose, but the palate is richer and has just a bit of caramel in it as well. It's herbal and floral too with the minerality really coming out and making it taste lighter and younger than I'd like. It dips into soap territory a bit at times, unfortunately, too. This is actually decently complex - certainly moreso than the nose is. There is some alcohol showing through though. F: The complexity of the palate fades into sort of a sickly sweet, unpleasant flavor. The alcohol was there in the palate, but now it comes out more and exacerbates the sweetness. It isn't awful, but it is a big disappointment. I'm pretty confident I'm tasting the youth here because it reminds me of the sweet part of Copper Fox Rye, which is only aged 20 months (side note: try a pour of Copper Fox Rye if you get a chance - it's some weird stuff (and also has fox in its name)). I have to say that this Dickel is growing on me. Side-by-side, it now seems a lot better than Templeton 4 now with its increased spicy and herbal characters and simultaneous reduction in syrupy, floral, vanilla sweetness. The alcohol does show through here more and I sure wish that it didn't, but this is still superior. It's also better than Wild Turkey Straight Rye, which kind of tastes like young nothing. This is somehow richer, and it also has more personality and rye flavor. This is actually moving into sipping territory a tad. I'm increasingly appreciating the clean, distinct rye flavors here. Don't get me wrong though: this is still too young. In comparison, Sazerac tastes mature even though it is (in my opinion) not a very full, mature rye. I'd love to get a more aged version of this. Isn't that what everyone says though: the problem with MGP bottlings is that most aren't aged long enough? I'm definitely considering this as a potential ingredient for at home blending, but I've tried a bit and I still need to figure out a way to deal with that youth. For the price, this seems like a reasonable value. I'm really disappointed that Dickel doesn't seem to have an older (MGP) rye though. Considering that I gave Wild Turkey Straight Rye a 10, this is pretty solidly a 12 and it could be a 13. I have Sazerac at a 14 and while its richer nuttiness and maturity make it better overall, it isn't as complex and interesting as this is. Considering that, I think that this is closer in quality to Sazerac than to Wild Turkey Straight Rye, so I'll give this that bump up to 13.