Christmas Countdown 2020 #11: George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond 13 Year (2005)

Distillery: Cascade Hollow Distilling Co.

Region: Tennessee

Age: 13 Year. Distilled in 2005.

ABV: 50.0%

Mashbill: 84% Corn, 8% Rye, 8% Malted Barley

Price: Courtesy of /u/bradbobaggins

Color: 1.6, Mahogany/Henna Notes.

This is the 11th installment of this years’ Christmas Countdown. You can see the entire 2020 series here or the 2019 edition here.

This particular review was done blind.

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Nose: (according to the wife) It smells nice, sweet, and dessert-y. There’s a bunch of maple syrup, some vanilla, and a lot of bourbon brown sugar ice cream.

Palate: There’s a little bit of heat but not so much that it’s undrinkable at full strength. You get cherry and brown sugar mostly. With just a little bit of water, it cools down considerably. More of that bourbon brown sugar ice cream note comes out. It’s sweet and rich. There’s a hint of maple along with some assorted toasted nuts.

Finish: Medium in length. There’s a bit of artificial cherry and a little bit of ethanol, even with water.

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Guess: Bourbon for sure, aged 4-6 years in length, 90-99 proof. No clue on the distillery so I’ll guess Elijah Craig.

Reveal: George Dickel Bottled-in-Bond 13 Year (2005)

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Conclusion: After my first smell of this, I almost had to double check to make sure I wasn’t about to have a bourbon brown sugar ice cream. I definitely did after my first sip with some water. It’s sweet, slightly creamy with that beautiful marriage of bourbon and brown sugar. Absolutely addicting and probably a bottle I’d down far faster than I’d like to. Would I buy a bottle? Yes.

Final Score: 82.

American Whisky Review #80, Tennessee Whisky Review #5, Whisky Network Review #353

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.