George Dickel 9 year Single Barrel Select!

[Huskee]

Great review! Glad you tried it with water, and also that you're going to let it sit. Sometimes a week or two is enough for it to change slightly. When they're half or less full and sit a month or 3 is where I tend to notice them changing the most due to greater oxygen in the bottle. Something I've noticed too is if I dont like a whiskey, ty it again tomorrow. Maybe what I ate last or if I've chewed gum, etc can affect my perception of a whiskey. Just like with wine.

[ColonialDawg]

So, the mashbill is standard Dickel - 84% corn, 8% rye, 8% barley
The whisky is 103 proof and has been aged 9 years in new oak barrels after undergoing charcoal filtration
Remember this is a single barrel product so the bottle you try will likely be different...

OK, so I was excited to find this bottle after reading so many positive reviews. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this whisky at all. I don't consider 103 proof to be that high, yet I was unable to nose this without clearing out my sinuses. I tried in both a Glencairn glass and an Old Fashioned glass. The ethanol was just very overpowweing. Behind the strong ethanol I could detect classic bourbon notes - vanilla and brown sugar. But that's it. Tasting was unpleasant too. The ethanol waa really strong and the burn in the back of my mouth lingered and turned into a slight numbness. This is a headscratcher because I like high proof bourbons and regularly sip 100 - 120 proof bourbons neat and none of them burn like this one. Dickel whisky is also supposed to be more mellow than traditional bourbons, as a result of charcoal filtration. I tried to temper the strong ethanol by adding drops of distilled water. Unfortunately, the water diluted more of the flavors than it did the ethanol and I ended up adding quite a bit of water.

As I continued diluting the whisky, I finally realized I should have just tried the barrel select instead, which is a 10-12 year small batch bottled at 86 proof.

So, I'm disappointed. At $50, I expected better. I didn't expect 103 proof to be that harsh. Again, it's a single barrel, so maybe my juice came from a bad barrel. Either way, I wouldn't spend the $50 on this. Save your money and buy a barrel select for 10 bucks less, or buy a few bottles of #12.

I'm going to let this bottle sit for a coulple of weeks and try again later. Perhaps I'll have a different experience then.

[Huskee]

I look forward to your thoughts. Never had this myself. I like the Dickel #8 & #12, great budget whiskeys.

[ColonialDawg]

I was perusing one of my local ABC stores and, what do you know, I spot a handful of bottles of George Dickel 9 year Hand Selected Single Barrel. I checked their website and this isn’t listed among their other offerings. Apparently single barrels are private store selections only... Score!

The Dickel #12 is a great pour and has been mentioned in a few posts here already - get a bottle if you haven’t because it’s a fine whisky. I haven’t tried the single barrel yet (don’t worry I will tonight) but everything I have read gives it very high marks. Of course, the thing about single barrels is they are all different and unique, something I find appealing.

I also spotted the Dickel Barrel Select, which comes from a small batch of 10 hand selected barrels of whisky aged 10-12 years. I may have to grab one of those in the near future too, but those were a lot more plentiful than the single barrel.

And lastly, I hear there’s a 13-year bottled in bond Dickel that was just released. I haven’t been able to find that one in my stores yet but I hear GREAT things about that one. AND it costs less than $40.