George Dickel distills great whisky in Tennessee.  George Dickel Rye is not one of them.  It actually comes from MGP in Indiana.  The 95% rye/5% barley mash bill is really popular.  You may have seen it as Bulleit Rye, Templeton Rye, Redemption Rye and more.  George Dickel makes the rye whisky unique by charcoal mellowing it.

(The distillery sent a small review sample.)  There’s lots of rye spice, dill and light toffee here.  At 90 proof, the entry is on softer side.  However, a slight alcohol tingle still remains.  The rye flavor carries through, and delivers you’d expect from the nose.  The sweet toffee is still here, along with a little sweet citrus (orange soda, maybe?)  George Dickel Rye finishes with that rye flavor.  I even get a little green tea here too.  The flavors don’t linger here too long.

On a recent VIP tour of George Dickel’s distillery, I asked distiller Allisa Henley about sourcing the rye versus distilling it on premises.  She said they tried to distill rye whisky before, but it wasn’t cost or labor effective.  Bottom line, distilling rye is difficult and messy.  There’s nothing wrong with sourcing whisky.  In this case George Dickel turns some already good rye whisky great by charcoal mellowing it.  This one’s good enough to drink neat, but I prefer it mixed in a cocktail.  This one sells for about $22.

7.5/10

www.georgedickel.com