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George Dickel Rye

spicy malty
3.8
(6)€53United States, Tennessee, Rye

Flavours

Whisky character

Fresh
Warm
Mild
Full
Smooth
Spicy

Taste mentions

Facts

At Cascade Hollow in Tullahoma, the new spirit gets chilled to about 40 degrees before it meets charcoal. Cold whisky moves slowly through 10 to 12 feet of sugar maple, and it comes out rounder. That old trick is what ties this rye to the rest of the Dickel family. The recipe itself is 95% rye, so the spice arrives first and stays. Cinnamon, clove, a bit of gingerbread. Then lemon and peach cut through the middle. It finishes dry, with citrus and a whisper of char. Nothing about it feels like a Tennessee corn whisky.

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3.8 /5

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About the distillery

Distillery

George Dickel

George Dickel started out as a wholesale liquor merchant in Nashville, Tennessee, in the 1850s. By the 1870s his company was selling whisky made at Cascade Hollow, near Normandy. Prohibition shut the operation down, and it did not reopen at Cascade Hollow until 1958. What makes George Dickel distinctive is the mellowing step. Before charcoal filtering, the new whisky is chilled to 40 degrees, a step most Tennessee distillers skip. It then filters slowly through deep vats of sugar maple charcoal for several days before going into the barrel. Dickel also insisted on spelling it "whisky," dropping the e, because he believed his product matched the best Scotch whiskies. Diageo owns the brand today, and the whisky is still made at Cascade Hollow, near Tullahoma, in Coffee County.

3.6Average rating

7Whiskies on Distilld

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Tennessee

Most popular whiskies from George Dickel

About the George Dickel Rye

George Dickel Rye is an American rye whisky bottled in Tennessee. The brand's home is the Cascade Hollow Distillery in Tullahoma, Coffee County. Its mash bill runs 95% rye and 5% malted barley. That is a big, spice-forward recipe by American standards. George Dickel has used the Scottish spelling since the founder's day. He wanted his whisky judged against the best Scotch. Tennessee is the brand's home, but this bottle's story starts elsewhere. Cascade Hollow chills its new spirit to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit before filtering. The cold whisky then drips through vats holding 10 to 12 feet of sugar maple charcoal. It sits there for days. That chill charcoal mellowing is the Lincoln County Process, done the Dickel way. The rye gets the same treatment, though it is distilled under contract at MGP in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. The result is a softer, rounder spirit than the mash bill suggests. The nose leads with raw rye grain and a lick of caramel. Orange peel and a cool mint edge sit behind it. Cinnamon and clove take over on the palate. Gingerbread follows, then bright lemon and soft peach. Honey rounds the middle without dulling the spice. The finish is dry and long, with citrus and a faint char from the charcoal vats. Allspice lingers after the fruit fades. George Dickel Rye is the odd one out in the range. Every other Dickel bottling is distilled at Cascade Hollow. This one is not. What links it to the rest is the charcoal, not the still. So you get an Indiana rye recipe wearing a Tennessee finish. That combination of high-rye spice and sugar maple mellowing is hard to find elsewhere. Dickel added the rye to its lineup in 2012.