George Dickel "B&B #473" 17 Year Single Barrel Whiskey
$58.50
Bitters & Bottles was lucky enough to receive a visit from George Dickel’s General Manager and Distiller, Nicole Austin. She is a genuinely fun hang, and succinctly summed up the main reasons that we love George Dickel, saying (roughly): what’s the point of making great whiskey if nobody gets to taste it? She backs those words up with high quality whiskey that is both affordable and available, and nothing exemplifies this philosophy as much as the Dickel 15 Year Barrel Select. A continually released whiskey that is at least 15 years old, bottled near barrel proof, priced around $60, and actually available on shelves? No other American whiskey maker comes close. And our single barrel is even better.
While it carries a fifteen year age statement on the label, the whiskey in this particular barrel is 17 years old! (Dickel bottles all of these barrels under the 15 year label to avoid the cost of having new labels designed, approved, and printed.) On top of its extraordinary age, this barrel was bottled at 104.6 proof, Dickel 15’s highest available proof point.
Beyond the impressive stats, Barrel #473 is fabulous - after all that time still incredibly dynamic and vibrant, with bright fruit offset by spice and the dark old whisky flavors. The nose opens with sweet apple juice and pear scents before transitioning to pineapple. Underneath the fruit there are notes of spicy clove, cinnamon, damp stone, tobacco, and musty old oak. The palate keeps the nose's promises, with a delicious combination of pineapple juice, spiced apple cider, clove, mace, cinnamon, and a complex minerality reminiscent of certain agave spirits and single malts. The incredible age truly announces itself on the finish, where spiced fruit gives way to chocolate, tobacco, leather, and rich old oak. Just an incredible barrel, combining a lovely fruity brightness with the dark, musty flavors you can only get from an old whisky.
While it carries a fifteen year age statement on the label, the whiskey in this particular barrel is 17 years old! (Dickel bottles all of these barrels under the 15 year label to avoid the cost of having new labels designed, approved, and printed.) On top of its extraordinary age, this barrel was bottled at 104.6 proof, Dickel 15’s highest available proof point.
Beyond the impressive stats, Barrel #473 is fabulous - after all that time still incredibly dynamic and vibrant, with bright fruit offset by spice and the dark old whisky flavors. The nose opens with sweet apple juice and pear scents before transitioning to pineapple. Underneath the fruit there are notes of spicy clove, cinnamon, damp stone, tobacco, and musty old oak. The palate keeps the nose's promises, with a delicious combination of pineapple juice, spiced apple cider, clove, mace, cinnamon, and a complex minerality reminiscent of certain agave spirits and single malts. The incredible age truly announces itself on the finish, where spiced fruit gives way to chocolate, tobacco, leather, and rich old oak. Just an incredible barrel, combining a lovely fruity brightness with the dark, musty flavors you can only get from an old whisky.