Review: George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey Reserve 17 Years Old (2022)
Review: George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey Reserve 17 Years Old (2022)
Dickel has been cranking out special edition whiskeys with double-digit ages as part of its ongoing Bottled in Bond series for a few years now. But for the holidays, the distillery has dropped an even older bottling that hits a full 17 years of age, though it’s not bonded, entering the bottle at 46% abv. It is, however, denoted as being “cask strength,” which seems curious.
The whiskey was actually first released in 2016 as a 375ml bottling only available at the distillery; this 2022 bottling is more widely available and ships in standard 750ml bottles, though this is of course different liquid — albeit whiskey which “pays homage” to the original.
I found the 2016 bottling to be pretty severely over-wooded, and I’m happy to report this expression tempers the impact of the barrel considerably vs. its forebear. Sure, there’s some char on the nose, but it’s tempered by plenty of slick fruit in the form of rum raisin, plum, and cherry notes, with a layer of cola and sweet tea atop. Sure enough, the palate has the same overall presentation, showcasing a sweet tea quality that’s heavily laden with red fruit, moving from there into a maple syrup note — one of the few connecting threads to the 2016 bottling. The whiskey pings back to tea again for the finish, with the lightest overtone of leather and spice lingering on the sweet and lengthy back-end.
What a massive difference this whiskey is vs. its original construction, with all the changes proving themselves to be for the better. Rather than scratching at my tongue to scrape all the tar and char away, Dickel proves in 2022 that old bourbon can still be lively and fun to drink. Recommended.
96 proof.
A- / $250 / georgedickel.com [BUY IT NOW FROM RESERVEBAR]
George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey Reserve 17 Years Old (2022)
$250
Hello I hope everyone is having a great day I am a large fan of George dickel modeling been collecting for many years parents owned liquor store early ’70s I started collecting in 1991 and I have never looked back lately things have gotten out of control and good for me my complaint or just maybe a message is that I have a little problem paying $250 for a bottle of bourbon that has no bottle numbering and especially not even to mention the proof is watered down these days the crowd is after high proof single barrel Bourbon at the price they’re asking I’m just explaining what the people want me as a collector they want to see bottle numbers they want to see label dating month and year the bourbon was distilled and bottled especially me as a collector as I have collected many many bottles since 1991 in the most bottles worth the most money are the older labeling especially in the pappy’s and the OFC life is good in the bourbon collecting industry so not a complaint just a message I was hoping for something special with the 17-year lately I was very fortunate to get a 15-year from Ohio to find out it is 17 years in 10 months old? I have a problem at that bottle being $69 and then throw a $250 price tag on a bottle that the distilling mash bill was changed?? since the 375 milliliter release in 2016 as I have several in my collection a very big George dickel fan and hoping for something very special in the future good luck guys peace and love pick a flower planetary PS I hear it’s a rumor the ( rare hair )Playboy was mixed with a further rested George dickel bourbon I hope that’s true LOL as I have rare hairs in my collection