Whisky I've Drank: George Dickel White Corn Whisky

By Geoff Kleinman
White Whiskey is an interesting category. It started small as a niche spirit category with only a handful of offerings, mostly from craft distillers who sold unaged versions of their aging whiskey as a way to help subsidize the immense expense of aging whiskey. The category probably would have stayed fairly niche were it not for the participation of a few major American whiskey producers, including early releases of Buffalo Trace’s white whiskey and Heaven Hill’s Try Box series including an unaged version of Rittenhouse Rye. As the category began to get some attention from consumer media, Maker’s Mark came very close to pushing out nationally Maker’s White, an unaged version of their popular whiskey. Maker’s pulled the plug at the 11th hour and what would have been a cornerstone event for the category didn’t happen.
Almost a year later, Jack Daniel’s took a stab at the white whiskey space with a fairly overpriced ($50) and limited Jack Daniel’s Unaged Rye. There was a lot of debate about this product (as there often is in this category) over whether to call Jack Daniel’s offering “unaged whiskey” or just simply non-neutral rye vodka (due to the proof it was off the still). Instead of fueling the category, the Jack Daniel’s entry seemed to take some of the wind out of its sails. It wasn’t until Jim Beam released their Jim Beam Jacob’s Ghost, a lightly aged and filtered version of their popular whiskey, that the category really began to take off. Not only did Jacob’s Ghost dramatically increase the case sales for white whiskey, it was a solid endorsement for the category from one of the biggest whiskey producers in America.
It was probably only a matter of time before we saw more major brands dip their toes in the white whiskey market, and so it’s no surprise to see Diageo’s George Dickel jump on the bandwagon with their George Dickel White Corn Whiskey No 1. Considered the “Foundation Recipe”, George Dickel No. 1 is the same mashbill that George Dickel uses for most of their aged whiskies (except for George Dickel Rye). George Dickel’s mashbill is high enough in corn (84% Corn, 8% Rye and 8% Barley) that the unaged version of their whiskey qualifies as a Corn Whiskey (which must have at least 80% corn in the mix). George Dickel No. 1 also goes through a similar Tennessee Whiskey “mellowing” process as their other offerings by filtering the spirit through sugar maple charcoal. With George Dickel No. 1 the spirit is chilled first before filtering which helps strips a greater amount of the heavier oils in the spirit
George Dickel White Corn Whiskey No. 1 Foundation Recipe (45.5% ABV / 91 proof, $21.99) – the nose Dickel White is quite pleasant with sweet corn bread, yeast, and a hint of black pepper spice. Corn whiskey has a tendency to be a little edgy in the nose and it’s clear that the charcoal filtering has helped smooth things out with a fairly sweet bread-y character with just a slight edge to it. The entry for George Dickel White is more corn pop cereal than cornbread, and the yeast note on the nose is dialed back in favor of a much stronger black pepper note. In the midpalate it’s the pepper note which comes to the forefront with the corn moving into the back. The finish is fairly spicy with black pepper and clove dominating a fairly long and slightly dry finish. While George Dickel White does have some nice flavor and character, its finish isn’t a major departure for vodka drinkers, and we suspect that Dickel released White at 91 proof to enhance this aspect of the spirit. The good news is because of the slightly higher proof, George Dickel White does really well with ice and water. Adding some ice helps draw out the corn notes on the palate and helps tame the spice, rounding out the finish.
George Dickel White is a solid entry in the white whiskey category, and the use of Dickel’s signature charcoal filtering has managed to eliminate some of the harsher elements which make white whiskey less palatable. George Dickel No. 1 carries the phrase “mellow as moonlight” on the label, which seems to be a blatant attempt to associate it with the bevy of popular “moonshine” releases like Ole Smoky Moonshine and Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon. It’s an interesting move for such a major company like Diageo to tip their hat to relatively small players, but in many ways Dickel White is Diageo’s insurance policy to ensure they have a piece of the white whiskey pie if it every really grows.
Dickel White is an interesting gateway into the whiskey world for the vodka drinker and perhaps a viable alternative to the many honey and maple flavored whiskeys on the market. Both Jim Beam and George Dickel have shown that charcoal filtering of corn whiskey is a good way to create a product that’s flavorful but still quite approachable as well as mixable. While we quite like George Dickel White, we much prefer the aged expressions of George Dickel, including what we feel is the gold standard for Tennessee Whiskey, George Dickel Barrel Select.

Whisky I've Drank: Henry McKenna Aged 10 Years - Single Barrel

By Father John Rayls
In 1837, a young Irishman named Henry McKenna completed his immigration to America by settling near Fairfield, Kentucky. He brought with him the generations-old family whiskey recipe, and established his distillery about 10 miles from the current distillery site owned by Heaven Hill in Bardstown, Kentucky. McKenna put his personal knowledge of whiskey to work to make an outstanding example of barrel aged bourbon, long before the barrel was taken for granted as an expected part of the process.
Fighting Cock, Elijah Craig and Evan Williams share the same mash bill with Henry McKenna, which is to say it’s their rye rather than wheated mash bill, but there really is something special about this particular spin on their staple Kentucky Straight Bourbon recipe. This is a 100 proof, 10 year old, and Bottled in Bond to, in my opinion, a nearly perfect example of what most bourbon can be. It’s flavorful, aromatic, beautiful to look at and potent. Did I mention economical too? It really covers all the bases and does it very well.
The Bourbon
The looks begin with a beautiful bottle, including personally marked labels detailing the barrel number and the date barreled, filled with a brownish copper whiskey with brass highlights I always like those special, personal touches. The label has an old appearance to it, nodding to the distillery establishment in 1855.
It has the same inviting look in the glass. The legs are long and lasting. The bourbon creates the notion that it is a light syrup or some thin honey waiting to be consumed.
I have to say that this is a favored whiskey to nose. It’s a complex experience with multiple levels. The first level is moderate with oak and oatmeal, but the next levels bring the spice with some slight burn. The spice may actually be the source of the burn rather than the high alcohol content. A sweet cinnamon aroma seems to drive the nose, but the oak is always present with notes of fresh fruit, vanilla and butterscotch. There are multiple waves on the nose if you patiently wait for them.
The taste begins with a luxurious mouth-feel. It’s a beautiful light coating of the mouth and tongue. Most of the action stays directly on the tongue, but you get some significant action on the roof of the mouth as well, and it all stays in the mouth rather than moving to the throat or chest.
The taste is filled with oak, burnt sugar/toffee and vanilla, and it’s something you shouldn’t rush. It’s just too delicious. The cinnamon stays in the background initially and then leads directly to the finish in force. The finish is long and spicy. As good as the rest of this experience really is, the finish may be the best part. It only reluctantly eventually fades away after a long, long satisfying experience.
Make no mistake, this is a really good bourbon. More than that, McKenna 10 Year Old has become my new winner in the “bang for the buck” competition.
The Price
Expect to pay somewhere between $25.00 and $35.00 online for Henry McKenna Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey.

Whisky I've Drank: Whyte & Mackay Aged 22 Years

By MrE 

Just a brief background, Whyte & Mackay owns many different distilleries including Dalmore, Jura and Fettercairn so they have a wide choice of single malts to chose from when they blend them together. Any Whisky with the Whyte & Mackay name on it is a blended scotch, meaning it is a mixture of single malts from a variety of distilleries and grain whisky. Generally speaking the older and more expensive Blended whiskies have a higher single malt to grain ratio than a standard bottle at 3 years old where the grain content can be as high as 80%.

I purchased this whisky before last Christmas as both my father and I do enjoy a few drams over the festive season and i decided to get another for this year too. At a minimum age statement of 22 years you are getting a very good mix and those extra few years over the "old luxury" 19 year old version certainly have helped. All the harshness from the young grain whiskies have long since gone and the whisky that is left in the cask really have blended together. It's very smooth and extremely easy to drink, the phrase "it smells and tastes like Christmas cake" is often banded around with middle to high end whiskies yet this one can certainly pin it's name to that very phrase. As a basic guide, older whiskies tend to take less water than their younger counterparts (a few drops of water act like rain on dry ground, it releases the aromas and unlocks those hidden flavors), which is why many people add water to their whisky, at the same time it reduces the alcohol content making it easier to drink. Even at 40% alcohol it can burn in the mouth so a few drops (and i do mean only a few drops) can dramatically improve the experience. Remember if you add too much water the whisky will be ruined so best to add a drop at a time till you find the right balance!

The following are my personal tasting notes:

Nose (straight): 

Very Malty and full of oak characteristics. Mellow yet warming on the nose with a small hint of spice in the background.

Taste (straight): 

Smooth yet rich. No alcoholic burn and there is a very good balance between dried fruits at the front of the mouth and the spice notes that you get at the back.

Nose (with water): 

The oak is more prominent yet it seems to bring the spice out too, definitely enhances it although the malty note has been suppressed

Taste (with water): 

The dried fruits really shine through with raisens, orange peel and chocolate in the front of the mouth, spice note is prolonged. Again no alcoholic nip

Finish (once swallowed): 

A mixture of spice and malt lingers in the mouth for around a minute, the spice persists for slightly longer. After-taste completely gone after 5 minutes.

Additional notes: 

Not oilly in the mouth, easy to drink neat but chill-filtering has clearly restricted the full experience, unknown if caramel colourant has been added.

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VERDICT:

It certainly isn't cheap but you are entering the age bracket where Whisky shows it's excellence and depth, keeping in mind this is a Blended Whisky you would expect it to take longer for the blends to fully integrate into each other, yet in this that process has finished. You would swear this was a single malt if given blind and given how smooth and easy to drink it is i am going to suggest there is older whisky in the bottle (the age statement on a bottle of whisky only tells you how old the youngest whisky they've used it). So don't go thinking that it is a set 22 years old. You can tell they have used a mixture of ex bourbon and Sherry barrels in maturation and that mix has worked extremely well.

I will be knocking a star off simply as it is expensive considering it's a blended scotch and it has been reduced down to 40% alcohol (less alcohol means less flavor). At the same time it has been chilfiltered so all the natural oils will have been removed.

If they gave this a "craft" presentation i.e. bottled it at 43% or 46% and didn't chilfilter the natural oils out it would be so much better. It's fantastic as it is but as a whisky drinker for a good few years now you respect the distillers more when they mess with it less.

RECOMMENDED as a bottle to enjoy over the Christmas/ New Year period, you won't be disappointed!

Whisky I've Drank: Chivas Regal Aged 18 Years Gold Signature

By Colleen Graham
Chivas is known for a series of fine blended Scotch whiskies ranging from a 12-year-old to an amazing 25-year-old bottling. It is the middle of the range, the 18-year-old Gold Signature, that is the most popular and reasonably-priced for a Scotch that will impress your taste buds and any friends you may have over for an evening sipper.
Beyond the normal tasting of the Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Gold Signature Scotch, I was asked to compare it to another considerably more expensive blended whisky, the Johnnie Walker Blue Label.
The Comparison:
The profiles of the two Scotches are completely different - with Chivas being "bolder, sweeter, and with notes of charcoal" and Johnnie Walker Blue being "oakier, softer, and with notes of hay". I think which is better is subjective to individual taste.
Personally, I enjoy a very bold Scotch most of the time so my preference would lean toward Chivas. Though I really enjoy Johnnie Walker Blue, it can be too light for me, especially when the ice melts. It would depend on what mood I'm in at the moment as to which I choose. I see Chivas being a year-round Scotch and Johnnie Walker Blue a summer Scotch.
I also did a comparison with Johnnie Walker Black and that is a closer match to Chivas 18 in terms of its bold side, but again, I'm leaning toward a preference for Chivas.
Yet another consideration is the price. Since the average person may well find the pricier Scotches something of a luxury, it seemed worthwhile to compare two beverages from either end of the premium spectrum as a way of discovering what you might be missing when you don't choose the more expensive option.
Beyond a subtle smoothness found in the Johnnie Walker and a completely different flavor profile, the money is well-spent either way. Again, Scotch and whisky in general are so subjective to taste that each person should follow their own preferences.
Tasting Notes on Chivas 18YO:
Chivas Regal 18 is a rich amber color, that of red wheat, and it opens with the aroma of sweet citrus, apple and a slight amount of oak.
The velvet palate is filled with caramel and peat with warm, burnt orange notes. It finishes very dry and slightly spicy with a satisfying smoke at the back.
About Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Gold Signature Scotch Whisky:
Distilled by Chivas Brothers in Aberdeen, Scotland
Master Blender Colin Scott
40% ABV (80 proof)

Whisky I've Drank: Johnnie Walker Red Rye Finish Blenders´ Batch

By WhiskyNotes

Back to basics. Johnnie Walker Red Rye Finish is the first expression in a new Blender’s Batch series. It is not usually the kind of whisky I write about, but in this festive season it is all over the place, here in Belgium you don’t have to wait long for a Red Rye commercial when you turn on the TV.

The Blender’s Batch range is all about variation and experimentation. For this first release they used whiskies matured in first-fill American oak which were blended and finished for six months in casks that previously held rye whiskey. It is a wide-scale evolution of a previous experiment, Johnnie Walker Select Casks Rye Finish, that was released in the US last year.

Later on new experiments will follow, not just finishes but also variations in malting, fermentation and distillation processes. Expect a Johnnie Walker Triple Grain American oak soon. I’ve also seen a Major Peat experiment, as well as The Bacchus (with Roseisle malt matured in wine casks) set for May 2017.

Johnnie Walker Red Rye Finish is made from four whiskies including malt from Cardhu and grain from Port Dundas. Most of all this is a cocktail whisky aimed at a Manhattan or Old Fashioned.

I asked myself whether it was a good move for Johnnie Walker to dive into this limited series concept, where a new marketing campaign is launched every few months and the whisky disappears after a while. It may not work for consumers who stick to the reliability of the ubiquitous Johnnie Walker Red. But we can only applaud the open spirit.

Johnnie Walker Red Rye Finish

(40%, OB 2016, Blender’s Batch #1)

Nose: 

sweet and spicy. There’s honey, toffee, oranges and baked apple. Warming wood spices, mainly cinnamon and ginger. Sugared cereals. Light bread crust. An ever so light hint of cedar oak. It’s in the same ballpark as a Red Label but with more spicy oak. A good thing, it gives it a little more depth. Mouth: same kind of spiciness at first. Pepper, ginger, oak shavings. Then the common blend character comes out, with caramel sweetness, vanilla and a slightly harsh, grainy tang.

Finish: 

not too long, with a vague sweetness and the lingering grainy notes.

Oak is usually what a cheap blend hasn’t been exposed too (at least not long enough) so in a way the spicy notes of this Red Rye Finish give it some depth and a sense of age. I wouldn’t sip this like a malt whisky, but given the price point, this is not bad and I agree it works well in cocktails. Around € 20.

Score: 71/100

Whisky I've Drank: Tomintoul - Glenlivet 12 Years Old

By WhiskybyEdzell
TOMINTOUL 12 YEAR OLD GLENLIVET by Whyte and Mackay, Distillers Glasgow.. Very unusual early 1990's 12 year old Glenlivet now discontinued. Round bottle of fluted glass. Large silver screw top. A dearly departed friend of the whisky connoisseur. This single malt was produced by Whyte and Mackay when they took over the Tomintoul Distillery in 1973 and launched in 1975 as something quite different. Known with affection as the " perfume bottle" or the "aftershave" it contains the finest Speyside single malt. Light, floral and fragrant it is typical of it's class and much lamented in whisky circles. Richard Patterson, master blender at Whyte and Mackays will extol it's virtues all day long. Now too rare to open on anything but very special occasions. In original packaging in top condition. Sold at a very keen price. This is a good investment.
- A 1980s bottling of Tomintoul-Glenlivet, with 43% ABV, and 750 ml.

Whisky I've Drank: Talisker Dark Storm

By Corinne Mossati

Exclusive for the travel retail sector, Talisker Dark Storm is the younger sibling of Talisker Storm which was released in 2013. The “no age statement” whisky has been dubbed as the smokiest single malt produced by the isle of Skye distillery. But for fans of peated whisky, how does it fare?

Talisker Dark Storm:

Talisker Dark Storm is bottled at 45.8% ABV and matured in heavily charred American oak casks.

Dark amber in colour, the nose is initially sweet with butterscotch and honey followed by briny salty notes and peat smoke at the end. The palate exhibits some vanilla and butterscotch sweetness progressing to sea salt and seaweed, earthy at times with a hint of nuttiness before it end with salty and smoky notes.

The finish is long, warming and lingers with sea salt then spice and ends with a peppery kick on the smoky finish.

Overall, this is a fine dram for fans of peated whisky but don’t expect the peat – either on the nose or the palate – to be significantly bolder than the Talisker Storm. Nonetheless it is an enjoyable single malt whisky that is worth keeping an eye out for in your travels.

Talisker Dark Storm is available in travel retail in 1L bottles.