Okay, for our first full themed week in November, let’s do a trio of bourbon reviews. First up, the 2021 release of the George Dickel Bottled in Bond. Since I am such an informed bourbon drinker, I was not aware that George Dickel has a Bottled in Bond release. This has apparently been an annual release since 2019, or three years after my previous George Dickel review–of the 17 yo, which no longer seems to be part of their range. In fact, the No. 12 seems to be history as well—as you may recall this was not actually a 12 yo whiskey. The Bottled in Bond releases do have age statements, however. This 2021 release was distilled in 2008 and is 13 years old. This was their second release in this series that was distilled in 2008. The 2020 release (I think) was an 11 yo also distilled in 2008. Suffice to say, I have not had that or any other of their Bottled in Bond releases. This particular bottle was purchased by a friend of mine from a store whose manager fronted it as a very rare selection—which I don’t think it quite is (though with the bourbon world having gone insane, who knows?). He brought it over one evening a month ago and we put a decent dent in it. I also stole a sample for review at leisure. Here now are my notes from it.
George Dickel 13, 2008, Bottled in Bond, 2021 Release (50%; from a friend’s bottle)
Nose: Caramel, a bit of orange peel, damp concrete and a peppery note; not a whole lot of oak. Sweeter as it sits with some hard candy and that Dickel mineral note emerges as well. Some leafy notes with time and some cherry. A few drops of water and the sweetness gets stickier still (i.e more of the hard candy) and more of the cherry.
Palate: Not as much caramel here and none of the damp concrete but the orange peel and pepper are here as well. A good bite at 50% but decent texture. Gets spicier with each sip with cinnamon and clove joining the pepper. More caramel too with time. Water accentuates the pepper.
Finish: The oak is most apparent here, mostly in the form of menthol coolness at the end; some toffee/butterscotch in there too. With time the sweeter notes hang out longer into the finish and there’s just a bit of dill at the very end. Water pushes the oak spice back a bit and lets the softer notes hang out longer.
Comments: This is a very nice bourbon indeed with a good balance of flavours and no flaws to speak of. It’s not one to contemplate for an hour but they don’t all have to be. I would have been happy if I’d picked up a bottle for myself.
Rating: 86 points.
Thanks to Ben for the pours and the sample!
This post was originally published with only the word “blah” as introduction. This was not a signal of my true feelings about this whiskey—it was only that, once again, I’d failed to actually click “update” on the blog post after writing up the introduction. My apologies to anyone who experienced pain or confusion. This has been a difficult few hours for us all but together we can heal—I know we can!
It’s not clear whether you’re reviewing the 2021 (No. 3) Dickel BIB or 2022 (No. 4) Dickel BIB because the 2021 edition was distilled in 2017 (spring), while the 2022 edition was distilled in 2018 (Fall) as you say your bottle was. Dickel doesn’t put the year of the edition on the label, so confusion is easy. The number of the edition appears on the right side of the label for the 2020-2022 editions, however, with them numbered 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The above photo doesn’t show enough of the right side of the label to see the number.
The distillation year and season appears vertically on the left side of the label. It’s barely visible in the above photo but I think it says Fall 2028, which would mean this bottle is the 2022 (No. 4) edition. For reference, this review of the 2022 (No. 4) edition https://thebourbonculture.com/whiskey-reviews/george-dickel-bottled-in-bond-tennessee-whiskey-2022-release-review/ includes a photo of the full label of the 2021 (No. 3) edition, besides the photos from multiple angles of the 2022 edition being reviewed.
I haven’t seen an edition No. 5 released in 2023 or so far in 2024.
Please pardon the typo in the second line of the second paragraph of my comment. It should say 2018, not 2028.
I apologize for royally botching the distillation dates by a decade (or two) in my comment. The 2021 (No. 3) edition) was distilled in 2007, while the 2022 (No. 4) was distilled in 2008. With those corrections, my point stands that it’s unclear which edition was reviewed, but it appears it may have been the 2022.
Thanks for your attentiveness. The apologies should be all mine for not having paid close-enough attention to the bottle: we were shooting the shit and I just took a quick picture to go with my review later–and then I resized it down and deleted the original. The bottle itself is long gone. It’s possible I took this to be the 2021 release on the basis of what the store manager told my friend. But I think it was definitely a 13 yo and from the 2008 distillation year, if only because I would not have pulled that out of the air; so almost certainly the 2022 release if your sequencing is correct (which it probably is).
No need to believe me on the sequencing as the review I linked in my comment gives the details on the 2019-2022 releases. There was no 2023 release, but Edition No. 5 is being released now. It was distilled in spring 2011 and they’re calling it 12 years old. It just won a double gold medal in the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and apparently will be followed soon by Edition No. 6: https://www.insidehook.com/whiskey/george-dickel-bottled-in-bond-2024-review