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Produced by Cascade Hollow Distilling Company in Tullahoma, Tennessee, George Dickel is a Diageo property and this 12-year-old bottled-in-bond has consistently challenged expectations for what 10+ year whisky should cost. This offering as well as a number of high-age single barrels were the brainchild of one Nicole Austin who became the general manager and lead distiller of Cascade Hollow in March 2018, having previously worked in Ireland and in New York as a master blender. Dickel first introduced this offering in 2019 and it quickly amassed some reasonable hardware across multiple spirits competitions. George A. Dickel, a German immigrant, was an successful Nashville merchant when he entered the whisky wholesale business, garnering a reputation for selling some of the smoothest, most mellow spirits in the region. Dickel always spelled whisky without the "e" believing that American brands should strive to the excellence of producers in Scotland. of When the Cascade Hollow Distillery opened in 1878 in neighboring Coffee County, George Dickel bought a large share of the ownership. Over the ensuing decades, ownership changed hands a few times and the Cascade brand took precedence before ultimately succumbing tot he pressures of prohibition. In the late 1950s, the distillery was rebooted and in 1964 the Dickel name was once again on bottles nationwide.
🛒Sourced: $39.99, 750ml Tower, Beer Wine, and Spirits in Atlanta, GA. That's only $3.33 a year!
This is likely a supply anomaly as Dickel sales had stagnated for years, resulting in a surplus of high-aged stocks originally intended to be dumped into younger products. Rather than wholesaling it to others who would likely slap much higher price tags on the juice, Dickel elected to bottle it themselves and take advantage of the enthusiast buzz for marketing purposes. Once they get through this excess inventory, I am interested to see if these dry up entirely or price creep to the level of competitors.
🧪Proof: 100 proof, 50% ABV
🎨Color: R4 - almost to R5, not particularly dark given the age and proof. Sparing legs.
🥔Mash Bill & Production
Cascade Hollow Distilling Company is part of the Tennessee Whiskey Trail and this bottle meets all of the criteria for being classified as Tennessee Whiskey, most notably using a version of the Lincoln country process. Dickel believed that whisky was best made in the winter so the liquid is cooled to 40 degrees Fahrenheit before being filtered through vats filled with 10-12 feet of charcoal for 7-10 days before being barreled for aging. This chilling increases flocculation (the clumping of fatty acids), helping the charcoal to selectively filter out some of the heavy or greasy oils while leaving the fruity and buttery esters intact. Dickel's warehouses are all single story which decreases the variability due to temperature resulting in a more consistent product across barrels.
- Mash Bill: 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% malted barley
- Age: 12-years, distillation season noted as being Spring 2011
- Entry proof: 115
- Distillation Proof: Low Wine 57, High Wine 130 Note: This may have changed... I am seeing mixed references in more recent years but this should be true of the liquid in this particular bottle.
- Filtration: NCF in the traditional sense though it is essentially chill filtered before barreling.
- Barrel Char: #4 (Staves) / #2 (Heads)
👃Nose: Fairly approachable and caramel forward, there is a nice sweetness, like a candy apple. Perhaps a little bit of honey crisp and granola deeper into the nose.
😜Palate: Medium mouthfeel and true to nose. There is some astringency into the finish but it is drowned out by a pleasant slow body warmth. I enjoy the main body of flavor which has that strong caramel and some almond nuttiness but there is the present specter of the classic Dickel vitamin a la Flintstone a few seconds into the chew. I'm getting an unusual amount of fruit for a Dickel product, dark cherry and raspberry. It layers well with the first few flavors but not so much with the vitamin funk (though I suppose a good number of those vitamins are fruit flavored).
💦Finish: Short and mineral leaning. There is a little it of baking spice and toffee. Again, the pleasant throat warmth hits just right for that sensation.
🏆 Overall: 6.5/10 - Uniquely Good, the odd one out in every blind - You can always pick out a Dickel in a crowd and this one is no different. On it's own it's a pretty enjoyable pour, but the age hasn't tempered it as much as I would expect, nor is there an outsize amount of barrel flavor. It has a really great amount of complexity and some atypical notes, but I'm not convinced they all go together.
💵Would buy again? Sure, happy to have tried it for the price, and it may just scratch your itch so I would say it is worth trying once. Will try some other Dickel editions though as I hear it has some solid variation between seasons.
🙈Blind Tastings:
- 4/29/26 - Ben Holladay Bottled-in-Bond, Dickel 12, Castle and Key Small Batch Bourbon
⚖️Rating Scale:
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume it by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws | Struggle to get through the bottle
4 | Serviceable | Mixing or ice recommended.
5 | Good | Drinkable Neat | An agreeable dram indeed.
6 | Very Good | Any flaws offset by interesting flavors | A cut above.
7 | Great | You find yourself reaching for this one often | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Serve to Impress Guests | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite | You guard this bottle jealously