Time to take a journey over the big pond to Kentucky, Tennessee, now who the Dickel Distilled this one then ?

First things first, is this Whisky, whiskey or Bourbon …  Well the good folks from That Boutique-y whisky company assure me this Tennessee whisky is Whisky, so next I know you are thinking my blog is basically scotch but I am trying to broaden my spectrum so I will continue..

The next thing to try sort out is just who produced this whisky, I tried the obvious route of asking “ Mr Dave Boutiquey world’s number 1 ambassador “ or the “Guvnor” as we sometimes call him ( he makes us call him one or the other … Honestly ) but his lips were tightly sealed (around a bottle and a cigar ) So looking at the clues on the bottle which I’m generally useless at by the way, the obvious two clues are the stack of what I assume is maple wood burning and the spelling of  “Whisky” ..

There are two distilleries in Tennessee that filter through Maple charcoal as far as I’m aware and they are of course Jack Daniels and George Dickel. The big difference between the two is the spelling of “ Whisky” ..

George Dickel is the only one who spells it without the “ e” so let’s assume this is then whisky from George Dickel and the clues as always are there to enlighten us..

George Augusta Dickel started out as a merchant and sold what was known as the “ smoothest, most mellow spirit” from the region but when the Cascade Hollow distillery opened in 1878 in neighbouring Coffee County, G Dickel bought a large number of shares and decided the spirit produced would be “Whisky” and not “Whiskey” ..

Unfortunately Prohibition came to the area and the distillery closed although the “cascade Whisky” was still allowed to be sold for medicinal purposes.. The product was made in the Stitzel Weller distillery in Kentucky before Prohibition hit this area too, hence the early connections with this distillery, once Prohibition ended and the Distillery became operational again, the product soon became known as Geo A Dickels Cascade straight bourbon whisky..

The present Distillery which was re opened in 2003 is located about 1 mile from the original site and now owned by Diageo the whisky is sold under the George A Dickel name..

All of the Dickel expressions ( except for the Rye ) are produced with the same mashbill ( 84% corn, 8%Rye, 8% barley) the main differences are the ages of the releases..

As we know That Boutiquey Whisky Company is now into its 6th year and with well over 100 different labels now and over the 250 different batches the company is certainly becoming one of the most influential independent bottlers in today’s market..

The big difference between the Boutiquey Whisky Company and other indies is the more relaxed labels and bottle size, although all the bottles sold are 50 cl this does help to keep the cost down for the customers and then of course there are those funky labels.. These are not to everyone’s taste but they are there to make things a little more fun and take the stuffy turned up nose side out of whisky (my opinion not the companies ! ) Designed by the very talented Emily Chappell the labels are there to offer some clues to what might be inside ( although some are rather cryptic for me ) they also had the ingenious idea to make each distillery / batch with an almost identical label except for one slight variation ( makes for a great game of spot the difference) …

So on to today’s review, this Tennessee whisky released by That Boutiquey Whisky Company, that may or may not be from the Dickel stable is a whopping 14 years old and is of course filtered through Msple wood charcoal ( possibly chilled down if Dickel ) bottled at 52.2% abv this is also batch #1 ..

Nose.. There is a rather enticing sweetness to this but not in that big vanilla way,  more like maple syrup and candy floss type of sweetness, corn on the cob with loads of melted butter,  a little oak and dried fruits..

Palate.. A touch of spice and oak on the opening but with a distinct charred flavour, burnt molasses and dried fruits, vanilla ice cream and candy floss with butterscotch sweets.. Some chocolate with a subtle hint of coffee notes in the background.

Finish.. Lingering and warming..

Thoughts.. I’m certainly not over aquatinted with the American Bourbon and Whisky, Whiskey scene but I am trying to expand my ranges and although I appreciate this is a fairly well aged expression and will sit above the general release standard I have to admit this has certainly peeked my interest just a little bit more..

I tasted this at a recent festival ( Dave told me he had something just like me- Sweet and straight to the point, big and bold with a touch of attitude ) ok I’m sure he said something like that.. So I obviously had to buy it instantly. I have always been told to open this style of whisky / Bourbons and give them time to evolve, this bottle has been open now for a few weeks and trying it side by side from the initial opening sample it has certainly changed..

This retails for £76.95 from Master of Malt

I know this is well above the standard stuff in the supermarkets but believe me it’s worth the extra..

There is certainly more depth and plenty of complex flavours and aromas to explore..

 

Tennessee whisky from That Boutiquey Whisky Company..