On Wednesday I had a review of the Ace Spirits exclusive George Dickel 9; here now is my review of the Park Avenue Liquors George Dickel 14. This was released in 2013 (at the front-end, seemingly, of the Dickel private barrel program. It is five years older than the Ace Spirits barrel and has a slightly higher abv. I drank this right after its younger “sibling”. Let’s get straight to it.

George Dickel 14 (53%; bottled in 2014 for Park Avenue Liquor; from a sample received in a swap)

Nose: Not a million miles from the Ace Spirits 9 yo at first with corn sweetness and some caramel. It’s softer though with a little more vanilla, a bit of maple and some toasted wood. After few minutes I get some fruit as well—plum?—and a bit of graphite (pencil lead). With a lot more time the maple notes really expand (more maple smoke than syrup) and there’s a hint of nutmeg and a bit of ginger. With water the pencil lead/graphite really jumps out at first and then the fruit expands too.

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