92

Score

George Dickel Barrel Select, 43%

Price: $40 Issue: Spring 2012 Reviewer: John Hansell

The newest member of the portfolio and worth every penny. It’s the distillery’s "super-premium" offering, produced in small batches and (for now anyway) small quantities. It is my favorite of the three Dickels from a pure taste perspective, with a lushness, roundness, sophistication and grace not often seen in a bourbon or Tennessee whiskey. All of the flavors of the other two Dickels are in here, and they’re in perfect balance and very tight. (Note: my review was from the first bottling, which was a rectangular-shaped bottle with white lettering. There has since been a second bottling, which I have not yet tasted.)