Last Night's Tipple

Another pour of George Dickel Number 12 for me, and this one killed the bottle. My impressions this time were similar to the last time I wrote about Dickel, but I would amplify a couple of things. First is that Dickel, like Jack Daniel's is very sweet. Alcohol can impart sweet flavors by its very nature, and this tendency is accentuated by the caramelization that aging the spirit in charred new oak barrels imparts. But while Bourbon is sweet, Tennessee Whiskey is sweeter, probably because the Lincoln County process (filtering the white dog spirit through twenty feet of maple charcoal before it goes into the barrel) adds even more caramelization on top of what the barrel does. Second, it really is amazing how much better Dickel is after a half hour in the glass than it is freshly poured. With time in the glass, a wonderful vanilla aroma develops that is much, much more appetizing than the unbaked apple pie aroma that it has straight out of the bottle.

Since it won't do to be completely out of Tennessee Whiskey for very long, I will be forced to buy another bottle of either Dickel or Jack Daniels some time soon. This next go around, though, I think that I'll try one of the premium bottlings: either JD Single Barrel or George Dickel Barrel Select. I hear that both are good...