The George Dickel 17-Year Old story goes something like this: While scouring the barrel warehouse for 9-year old whisky, George Dickel distiller Allisa Henley happened upon a row of 17-year old barrels tucked away in the back. She pulled a sample of said barrels and knew immediately it was too good not to share. I can’t begin to imagine her excitement for finding these once forgotten orphan barrels.
This month (June), George Dickel 17-Year Old goes on sale, but there’s a slight catch. Whisky lovers will have to make the trip out to George Dickel’s Cascade Hollow Distillery Visitor’s Center in Tullahoma, or to one of the few select local retailers, as this is a Tennessee-only offering.
“Handmade the Hard Way,” just like its brothers, the 17-Year Old is no different in that it went through chill charcoal mellowing filtration and placed in a single story warehouse for aging. It also preserves George Dickel’s signature mash bill of 84 percent corn, 8 percent rye and 8 percent malted barley. The whisky is bottled by hand on the craft bottling line at George Dickel’s Cascade Hollow Distillery in Tullahoma, Tenn.
“From the moment I first sipped it, I knew George Dickel 17-Year Old was special,” said George Dickel Distiller, Allisa Henley. “People are going to remember where they were when they first tasted it, and I love knowing it will be right here in my home state of Tennessee.”
George Dickel 17-Year Old Whisky Notes
I had the pleasure of being one of the first to taste George Dickel 17-Year Old on a recent trip to the Tullahoma distillery, and let me tell you, it’s some of the best sipping whisky I’ve ever tasted. It starts with an aroma of oak and sweet molasses. When it hits the palate you get vanilla and caramel, then peppery spice notes mid-palate. The tasting ends with a toasted oak finish that goes down smooth.
George Dickel 17-Year Old has a suggested retail price of $75 for a 375 ml bottle. The alcohol by volume is 43.5% (87 proof). If you are in Tennessee anytime soon, I highly recommend you finding your way to Tullahoma and picking up a bottle before this whisky is all gone.
