George Dickel 95% Rye Whisky with Ryan, Davey & Alex

Alright, the first of a new brand. George Dickel Rye! Let’s give it a go.

This is a Tennessee whisky… or is it? On the page above, they are very careful to talk up the quality of the rye without actually saying they make it themselves. Which, if you remember, was the same as Bulleit Rye, when we commented on this before.  The finishing process is different – Dickel mentions both chill-filtering and sugar maple charcoal filtering; the latter is specific to Tennessee whiskies, but I can’t tell if Dickel chill-filters on their own or if it comes from the MGP distillery that way. Bulleit doesn’t mention it on their label.

So, is it a good thing or a bad thing that different brands are selling the same whisky? From my point of view, no. More distilleries doing their own thing is always going to get my vote, because I’m for whisky biodiversity. However, in one specific way, it allows you to determine what flavour enhancements are specific to which bottler. If the base product is the same, any difference in taste is down to the finishing process. Here’s what we thought:

colour
Simon – brass
Ryan – dark
Davey – light amber
Alex – crispy, caramel

nose
Simon – simple, dill
Ryan – cherry
Davey – sweet
Alex – cherry

neat
Simon – sweet & soft, syrupy
Ryan – smooth
Davey – subtle
Alex – smooth, nice burn, not too much taste

finish
Simon – sharp on the tongue
Ryan – chocolatey sweetness
Davey – n/a
Alex – lingering tingle

splash
Simon – no change, really
Ryan – n/a
Davey – n/a
Alex – n/a

George Dickel 95% Rye Whisky – 45% 750ml – $36.95 – USA

Try it? Sure. Buy it? Nah.

Weird that we liked the Bulleit version but not the Dickel? We weren’t the only ones – check out this article at Professor Cocktail!