I’ve toured distilleries from the smallest boutique distillery in San Diego to the Jameson distillery in Dublin. Each has something different to offer, whether it’s a taste of history or the feeling of seeing something that’s starting small, but will get bigger! George Dickel Tennessee Whisky is the best of both of those – they’ve been distilling since 1870, yet each bottle of their whisky is still made by hand.
Before we go on our virtual tour of Cascade Hollow where the whisky is made, let’s start with a few facts and figures. You’ll notice that George Dickel doesn’t spell his whisky with an E, like most of the other American whiskies. George declared his whisky the equal of the finest Scotch, so he followed the Scottish spelling.
As you watch National Brand Ambassador Doug Kragel (Dickel Doug!) give you the tour, you may notice a few things. Doug talks about charcoal mellowing, which is officially named the Lincoln County Process. Filtering your whisky through charcoal is the only way you can call your hooch Tennessee whisky. You’ll also notice the mashbill (the mix of grains the whisky is made from) is mainly corn, which would qualify it as Bourbon, if they didn’t follow the Lincoln County Process.
Those are the basics – I’ll get into more of the technical details that Dickel Doug talks about when I review the bottle. Cheers and enjoy the show!
Article by: Jeanne Runkle
