George Dickel

United States

All about George Dickel

George Dickel has a handful of Tennessee Whiskey products, plus Corn and Rye Whiskies. Their core product is George Dickel Classic No. 8 Tennessee Whiskey.

As a reminder, the legal requirements for a spirit to be called “Tennessee Whiskey” are for all intents and purposes identical to the legal requirements to be called Bourbon with two additional: it must be made and aged in the state of Tennessee and it must undergo the “Lincoln County Process” of filtration.

This filtration process involves running the finished spirit through charcoal made from sweet maple wood. George Dickel Classic No. 8 Tennessee Whiskey actually meets three legal definitions: it is a Bourbon, a Tennessee Whiskey, and a Corn Whiskey.

This is because the mash bill is heavy on the Corn — 84% — with the balance equally divided between Rye and malted Barley. It is served at a standard 40% ABV. The result is a smooth, relatively sweet Whiskey with a caramel-corn flavor and not much spice.

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All about George Dickel distillery

George Dickel immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1844, where he started a small retail business in Nashville, Tennessee. He added liquor to his his product lines in 1861, and they became very popular.

Around 1877, John F. Brown and F.E. Cunningham started operating the Cascade Hollow distillery, 70 miles to the south-east. George Dickel was the wholesaler for their Cascade Hollow Whiskey.

Over time, George and his partners bought out the various interests in the distillery, and started producing 100% of their own product.

Things continued to go well until the dark days of Prohibition forced them to shut things down. When prohibition ended, the distillery was sold and the Bourbon renamed in honor of their founder — "George A. Dickel’s Cascade Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky."

Today, the brand and distillery are owned by Diageo. They use “Tennessee” style production methods which means that their spirit is naturally filtered through sweet-maple charcoal, then aged in dark-charred casks.

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