Item: Bottled In Bond 13 Years
Rating: 4
Author: Josh Peters

George Dickel Bottled In Bond Spring 2007 13 Years Review

Hailing from one of my favorite distilleries, the George Dickel Bottled In Bond Spring 2007 13 Years is exactly what its name says it is. And I love that. No surprises, no having to play detective, no having to rant. Just whiskey. Honest, straight up, easy to discern, and know what you’re drinking, whisky – […]

The post George Dickel Bottled In Bond Spring 2007 13 Years Review appeared first on The Whiskey Jug.

George Dickel Bottled In Bond 13 Years Review

To be clear, I don’t dislike NDPs. I don’t dislike indie bottlers or blenders. I like them… when they’re honest and as transparent as they legally can be. The honest and transparent ones are the only ones I will spend my money on. Though, to be honest, 90% of the time with American Whiskey, my money goes directly to the distiller. I don’t want games and shenanigans, I just want good whiskey, so I mostly buy OB bottles.

The dishonest NDP route is a topic I’ve covered at length on here, so no need to really retread it. Instead, let’s get to drinkin’ and see if this release is any good.

George Dickel Bottled In Bond 13 Years – Details and Tasting Notes

Whiskey Details

Region: TN, USA

Distiller: George Dickel
Mash Bill: 84% Corn, 10% Rye, 6% Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 13 Years
ABV: 50%

Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

Batch: Spring 2007 (distilling season)

Price: $45*

White background tasting shot with the George Dickel Bottled In Bond Spring 2007 13 Years bottle and a glass of whiskey next to it. — “At 100 proof, George Dickel Bottled in Bond Distilling Season Spring 2007 is best enjoyed neat or on the rocks and plays well in many classic cocktails like a Perfect Manhattan, garnished with an orange peel. Whisky drinkers can enjoy this rare, 13-year-old high proof liquid at a great value.” – George Dickel

Tasting Notes

EYE
Ruddy caramel

NOSE
Cherry-heavy dried dark fruit, dried corn, oak, candied nuts, citrus peels, milk chocolate, baking spice, walnuts and caramel with a hint of menthol.

This aroma is outstanding. I’ve only had one or two other George Dickel’s with this much sticky dried dark fruit before… wow.

PALATE
Butterscotch, oak, cherry-heavy dried dark fruit, dried corn, candied walnuts, black tea, milk chocolate, baking spice, brown sugar and a bit of citrus and leather.

The George Dickel Bottled In Bond 13 Years’ palate bows to the aroma, but only slightly. This profile is why people love Dickel.

FINISH
Long -> Dried corn, oak and cherry-heavy dried dark fruit slowly dissipates to leather and olde candy sweetness.

BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Great balance, med-full body and a warm soft feel.

George Dickel Bottled In Bond 13 Years – Overall Thoughts and Score

The aroma is my favorite part of this whiskey and it’s one of the best smelling Dickels I’ve had in my life – it’s so heavy, dark and expressive. I want to smell this every day and it just might be how this whisky goes down; slowly evaporated as I keep going back to it over and over for more sniffs than sips.

That’s not to say the palate of the George Dickel Bottled In Bond 13 Years is a slouch… it’s not. It doesn’t quite nab the “best of” for the brand, but it does come close. That best of honor still goes to the George Dickel Single Barrel from 2014, but this is giving it one hell of a run for its money.

SCORE: 4/5

*Disclosure: The bottle for this Tennessee Whisky review was graciously sent to me by the company without obligation. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.

George Dickel Bottled In Bond 13 Years Label

George Dickel Bottled In Bond 13 Years Review $45

Summary

This is the darkly fruity, tannic oaky, and warmly grainy profile Dickel fans flock to. It’s a stunner.

Overall

Nose

(4)
Palate

(4)
Finish

(4)
BBF

(4)

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Jeptha Creed Distillery’s Upcoming ‘5th Anniversary’ Bottled-In-Bond Rye Bourbon Whiskey

Jeptha Creed Distillery Releases Bottled-In-Bond Rye Bourbon Whiskey (Shelbyville, KY) On their 5th anniversary, this November 11th, Jeptha Creed is releasing their first Bottled-In-Bond Rye Bourbon. For clarity, ‘rye’ refers to the secondary ingredient in the Bourbon mashbill meaning the majority ingredient is corn. This rye bourbon has been barrel-aged at least 4 years, in a […]

The post Jeptha Creed Distillery’s Upcoming ‘5th Anniversary’ Bottled-In-Bond Rye Bourbon Whiskey appeared first on The Bourbon Review.

Jeptha Creed Distillery Releases Bottled-In-Bond Rye Bourbon Whiskey

(Shelbyville, KY) On their 5th anniversary, this November 11th, Jeptha Creed is releasing their first Bottled-In-Bond Rye Bourbon. For clarity, ‘rye’ refers to the secondary ingredient in the Bourbon mashbill meaning the majority ingredient is corn.

This rye bourbon has been barrel-aged at least 4 years, in a single season, in a bonded barrel barn, and is proofed right at 50% ABV. It has a rye mash bill of Bloody Butcher corn, malted rye, and malted barley. All of the Bloody Butcher corn was estate grown, on their own farmland within 10 miles of the distillery.

This rye bourbon will be available for purchase in the distillery gift shop, online to KY, ND, AK, D.C., and in select stores throughout KY and IN on November 11th, 2021. It will be available in select stores throughout IL, TN, and MO in March 2022.

The Bourbon – Profile and Tasting Notes (provided by JCD)
Jeptha Creed Bottled-In-Bond Rye Bourbon50% ABV | 100Proof
Mash Notes: 75% Bloody Butcher Corn / 20% Malted Rye / 5% Malted Barley
Nose: Sweet orange creme brulee, followed by bold baking spices, and dried cranberries.
Palate: Light carmel, vanilla, cinnamon, and lemongrass with undertones of sweet oak.
Finish: Long smooth buttery finish with whispers of ginger and cinnamon that dance across your tongue.

Release Day
The Thursday, November 11th, 2021 Jeptha Creed Distillery will be open to the public from 11am – 6pm for bottle purchase and regular business. Join Jeptha Creed’s Master Distiller Joyce Nethery for a meet and greet and bottle signing from 3pm – 5pm. Due to limited availability rye bourbon purchase will be limited to 1 bottle per guest.

WHEN: November 11th, 2021

WHERE: Jeptha Creed gift shop, online to KY, ND, AK, D.C., and in select stores throughout KY and IN on November 11th, 2021. It will be available in select stores throughout IL, TN, and MO in March 2022.

The post Jeptha Creed Distillery’s Upcoming ‘5th Anniversary’ Bottled-In-Bond Rye Bourbon Whiskey appeared first on The Bourbon Review.

Jeptha Creed Soon To Join The Bonded Bourbon Club

On their 5th anniversary, this November 11th, Jeptha Creed is releasing their first Bottled-In-Bond Rye Bourbon. This rye bourbon has been barrel-aged at least 4 years, in a single season, in a bonded barrel barn, and is proofed right at 50% ABV. It has a rye mash bill of Bloody Butcher corn, malted rye, and malted barley. All of the Bloody Butcher corn was estate grown, on their own farmland within 10 miles of the distillery. This rye bourbon will be available for purchase in the distillery gift shop, online to KY, ND, AK, D.C., and in select stores throughout KY and IN on November 11th, 2021. It will be available in select stores throughout IL, TN, and MO in March 2022.

Marvelous New Malts To Try This Autumn

By Richard Thomas Single malt whiskies, with their distinct and individual identities and rich-yet-sophisticated characters, have always been a drink withdrawn from my shelf from late Spring to early Autumn. Between living in sweltering DC, steamy Asia, sunny Portugal and now also-sweltering Kentucky, my adult years have been marked by summer climates that were too …

By Richard Thomas

Bruichladdich Octomore 12 series
(Credit: Remy Cointreau)

Single malt whiskies, with their distinct and individual identities and rich-yet-sophisticated characters, have always been a drink withdrawn from my shelf from late Spring to early Autumn. Between living in sweltering DC, steamy Asia, sunny Portugal and now also-sweltering Kentucky, my adult years have been marked by summer climates that were too hot to enjoy most malts properly. Everyone has their own individual tastes, but I have met a lot of people who look at summertime as the season for chilled cocktails and pours over plenty of rocks, and not neat sipping from a Glencairn glass.

Yet it is 55F outside as I type this, and I brought some malts out to put on my shelf again. This year, however, things have changed for this annual ritual. Previously it would have been Scotch-centric, with maybe a bottle of Irish or Japanese. But now there are a host of worthy American malts and world whiskies to choose from as well, and taken as a whole there are plenty of new malts to try out this Fall.

Bruichladdich Octomore 12th Edition ($199 to $260): Good news for lovers of peaty smokebombs! The ultra-peated Bruichladdich expression is available for regular distribution in the US for the first time. Heretofore, Octomore has been available only as a Travel Retail item in the US, if even that, so if you could get one it was as a specially imported item. Octomore has become famous for delivering the peat, a reputation that can be proven in numbers. The phenols that produce peaty flavor can be measured in ppm, with the typical Islay whisky measuring around 40 or 45 ppm; Octomore is always at least 80 and routinely goes over 100. There are three versions of Octomore this year, labeled as 12.1, 12.2 and 12.3.

Dalmore 12 Year Old Sherry Cask Select ($80): For Scotch-lovers who prefer Sherried to peaty whisky, this Dalmore came across the Atlantic earlier this year, so now it is available to malt-fans everywhere.

Dingle Irish Single Malt ($60): The little distillery on the west coast of Ireland has been releasing single malts for some years now, but always in discrete, one-shot batches. Now they have built up to the point to put a single malt out in regular release, and in so doing gone a long way to making their whiskey more accessible. Currently available in the EU and UK, it is still only a special-import item in the US, but it is here and distribution will only improve with time.

Laws Whiskey House Henry Road Bottled in Bond Single Malt ($75): Colorado’s Laws Whiskey House has increasingly built up its portfolio of bonded craft whiskeys, so much so that some expressions have now seen several installments and have six year old versions out. Their foray into American Malts is more recent, but even so this year saw the release of a second batch of bonded malt whiskey from the distillery, aged in #3 char, 53-gallon new American oak barrels.

Starward Unexpeated Australian Single Malt ($110): Peated Australian malt, you say? Not quite. What Starward has done with this latest expression is take their signature malt, aged in Australian red wine casks, and given it a finish in casks from Islay used to age “heavily peated” whisky. The result is said to be not a smoke bomb, but a more modest and subtle accent of peat. This whisky has been reported for sale in Australia and France thus far, so everywhere else it is a special import item. That said, it is around now, and Starward is making a big international marketing push. So, expect to see more of these green-labeled bottles from them in the near future.

Yamazaki Limited Edition 2021
(Credit: Suntory)

Virginia Distilling Company Courage & Conviction ($85): The Virginia Distilling Company got its start with skillfully made hybrids of imported Scotch malts and their own in-house spirit, but in their Courage & Conviction line they have moved on to totally in-house American Malts. The line has three cask types to choose from: bourbon, sherry, and cuvée.

Yamazaki Limited Edition Japanese Single Malt 2021 ($1,000): After a four year, shortage-driven hiatus, Yamazaki is back with a new Limited Edition Single Malt. This whisky was created by drawing on stocks of new cask, Mizunara-aged whisky, all 12 years or older. The result is a river of tropical fruits and spices, showcasing what a middle-aged whisky drawn from uniquely Japanese Mizunara casks can be. Initially released in May and only in Japan, the initial consignment sold out almost immediately. Subsequent consignments are now on the market, available here and there around the world, but mark-ups vary dramatically. You may very well find it cheaper to buy it in Japan and have it shipped to you than to pick it up from, say, California or Holland.

Sipp’n Corn on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® – The Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience.

Heaven Hill celebrated the grand opening of the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience in Bardstown, Kentucky last month. This $19 million expansion and renovation of the Bourbon Heritage Center transformed it into a state-of-the-art visitor center. Heaven Hill President Max Shapira and Kentucky Governor Andy…

Heaven Hill President Max Shapira and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear presided over the ribbon cutting to commemorate the occasion. Gov. Beshear also presented Heaven Hill and Kentucky Distillers’ Association President Eric Gregory with a proclamation to name June 14 as “National Bourbon Day” in Kentucky, which was especially fitting given Heaven Hill’s leading role in the industry and in preserving and promoting the historic standards of the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897.

Those of us who were already into bourbon in 2004 will remember that the Bourbon Heritage Center was the first of its kind. It was a nod to the small (but growing) population of bourbon enthusiasts and it was the first visitor center to celebrate bourbon’s rich history. The breakneck speed of the bourbon boom and spike in bourbon tourism demanded more, and the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience delivers a truly memorable experience.

The new Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience triples the previous footprint with more than 30,000 square feet. The aspect that I’m most interested in is the “You Do Bourbon” experience. In addition to a guided tasting, guests experience a sensory/quality lab complete with microscopes, proof gauging, and nosing station, and guests can bottle their favorite bourbon with a personalized label.

The Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience also includes a Distillery Theater, interactive exhibits featuring Elijah Craig, John E. Fitzgerald and Larceny, and Bottled-in-Bond, all topped off with the new Five Brothers Bar & Kitchen and soon-to-open restaurant. Check the link here to plan your visit this summer!

Sipp’n Corn Tasting Notes: Old Fitzgerald Spring 2021 Bottled in Bond and Four Gate Ruby Rye Springs.

Sometimes you have to try bourbon side by side with another whiskey that is totally different. Usually, a wheated bourbon and bourbon with rye as a secondary grain isn’t truly different enough. In most cases, not even a bourbon versus a 51% rye whiskey will do the trick. But a wheated bourbon compared with a 95% rye barrel finished in ex-ruby port casks from Portugal, which then aged rum before being shipped to Four Gate? That promises to be the sort of distinctive differences that I want.

Old Fitzgerald Spring 2021 Bottled in Bond Tasting Notes

Bourbon:        Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Distillery:       Heaven Hill
Age:                8 years
ABV:              50% (100 proof)
Cost:               $85.00

Appearance:
Amber with slight red.

Nose:
Classic wheater in many ways, with sweet caramel, subtle honeysuckle, and spring grass. But another nice layer of cinnamon and dark, dried fruit, too.

Taste:
Caramel dominates, with a buttery mouthfeel, light fruit sweetness, and slight earthiness at the end. Extremely solid and nothing unexpected. On the first pour it almost seemed too much of exactly what I expected, but on the second and third evenings, I enjoyed it more and more. This is an extremely refined and balanced bourbon with complexity that builds.

Finish:
Medium/long with a really enjoyable fade.

Four Gate Ruby Rye Tasting Notes

Bourbon:        Four Gate Ruby Rye Springs
Distillery:       Undisclosed, but distilled in Indiana, so … MGP
Age:                7 years
ABV:              56.7% (113.4 proof)
Cost:               $185.00

Appearance:
Dark amber.

Nose:
Intense rye with dried dark fruit around the corners, along with brown sugar, baking spice, and lemon zest.

Taste:
Intense rye again. Tasting it alongside a wheated bourbon really amps up the rye spice. It’s also a lot sweeter than the nose predicted, like a juicy, syrupy, sweetness, then shifting to slightly herbal with black pepper and oak, but all along a brown sugar backbone.

Finish:
The finish is crisp. Berry sweetness fades first as rye and black pepper surge.

Bottom Line

Many people focus too much on age when selecting bourbon, while others more in the know realize that bourbon is dynamic enough to have sweet spots at different ranges without being wed to a certain age target. Old Fitzgerald has proven that with bourbon as old as 16 years old and now as young as 8 years old. And this Spring 2021 edition absolutely shines.

Four Gate’s Batch 7—which I really liked—is the base Rye for Ruby Rye Springs. When I reviewed Batch 7, I found it mouthwatering, and now with the finishing influence of port and rum, it’s even more so. As with other Four Gate batches, this is extremely limited at 1,444 bottles if you’re in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, or Georgia, or Seelbach’s if you’re almost anywhere else.

Disclaimer: The brand managers kindly
sent me samples for this review,
without any strings attached.
Thank you.

George Dickel Bottled in Bond 11 Year Review

A little over a year ago I reviewed the first release of George Dickel Bottled in Bond. The TL;DR was I pretty much hated it. I found it overly thin and remarkably underwhelming given the age and proof. While Dickel tends to be a very polarizing whiskey, this surprised me greatly because I generally quite enjoy it as a nice change of pace from most other bourbons. While there were some that liked the bottled in bond release, I think overall the whiskey community mostly sided with me as there was a considerable amount of groaning when the product won one of those silly whiskey of the year awards.

Fast forward one year and here we are with a second release of this product, distilled 3 years later in Fall of 2008 but now bearing an official age statement of 11 years. I wasn't quite ready to give up on Dickel so when I saw a bottle on the shelf with a price that is still relatively cheap by current special release standards, I figured I'd take a chance given the lack of anything better to do right now.

bottle

Tennessee Whiskey distilled in Fall 2008; Aged 11 years; 50% ABV; $40

Nose: Toasted marshmallow, light spice bite, a decent helping of traditional Dickel Flintstone multivitamins, and lots of woody charred corn.

Taste: Thicker mouthfeel than I remember from last time. Upfront it's honey and other sweet woody flavors which transitions into some slight spice and that familiar vitamin mineral note. The finish is a nicely rounded combo of sweet, spice, and wood but it tapers off too quickly.

Thoughts: I came into this thinking at worst it would be as thin and underwhelming as last time or at best it would be like a really great Dickel store pick. All in all, I think this is somewhere in the upper middle of that which is what I expected from the original release. There is a much better balance of sweet, oak, and char this time around making it just an overall better whiskey. My biggest complaint is still that the finish is entirely too short which again I suspect is due to an abundance of filtration. Outside of that, this is decidedly Dickel whiskey through and through and much closer to form of what I expect from the brand. If I see again, I will buy it.

Rating: B-

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

George Dickel Bottled in Bond Review

George Dickel is a very polarizing product amongst whiskey enthusiasts because as many folks will tell you, it has an incredibly distinct taste and smell that most people liken to vitamins. Open the seal on fresh bottle of multivitamins and smell it - that's sort of what Dickel whiskey can taste and smell like on top of all the usual corny/sweet/woody bourbon notes. It's a very odd flavor that many folks find off putting but over the years I've come to appreciate that odd profile as something different - something along the lines of bourbon being my wife and George Dickel being my mistress.

As of late, there's been a flood of Dickel based products on the market. On top of the official single barrel store picks from Dickel themselves, we've also seen a ton of NDPs offer it as a sourced product. One in particular that comes to mind are the folks over at Barrell who have been releasing cask strength 13-14 year old Tennessee sourced bourbon that almost certainly is from Dickel. I've enjoyed some of those quite a lot however the $110 price tag has kept me from going back to the well very often. My good experiences with well aged Dickel across the board had me excited to see Dickel themselves releasing an older age product with a decent proof and a very reasonable price point. The best Dickel branded products I've ever had were the 14 year single barrels that clocked in around 106 proof. This product seems really close to those in terms of specs so I'm going into this with high expectations.

Tennessee Bottled in Bond Whiskey; No Age Statement (Fall 2005 Vintage Statement); 50% ABV; $36

Nose: There is no escaping the familiar Dickel multivitamins. Also per usual with Dickel there is a heavy smoked corn component, something along the lines of charred cornbread.

Taste: All the same from the nose. A brief jolt of Dickel minerals, charred corn, and slight musty oak. The finish briefly lingers with almost no flavor other than Dickel minerals and burnt charred wood but even that doesn't last long.

Thoughts: Throwing the specs out the window and judging this as a regular whiskey with no context, this is borderline okay. Bring the specs back into the equation though and judge this for what it should be and it's a miserable failure. They must have filtered the everlasting shit out of this because there is no way it tastes like it's 100 proof. It's so incredible thin and the finish is so incredibly short I'm baffled. I don't know how Diageo managed to royally fuck up what could have been a fantastic release but kudos to them for finding a way to ruin something that should have been great.

Rating: D+

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

Bar Review: Bottled In Bond (Dallas)

While in Dallas last week for work I was driving north on the Dallas North Tollway and happened to be figuring out my plan for dinner when I saw Bottled in Bond and pulled off the road. What a great name for a bar! Their website says it perfectly: No one likes rules and regulations … Continue reading Bar Review: Bottled In Bond (Dallas)

No one likes rules and regulations but we are allowed to enjoy great whiskey today thanks to the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897….

To be labeled as Bottled-in-Bond or Bonded, the liquor must be the product of one distillation season (January to December) and one distiller at one distillery. It must have been aged in a federally bonded warehouse under U.S. government supervision for at least four years and bottled at 100 proof (50% alcohol by volume). The bottled product’s label must identify the distillery where it was distilled and, if different, where it was bottled. Only spirits produced in the United States may be designated as bonded.

This very Act is the foundation behind the concept for our Cocktail Parlour & Kitchen allowing people to experience the thriving era of craft cocktails and American Whiskey in a unique atmosphere.

BIB9

Bottled in Bond has a classic design with a great long bar that can seat 20. There is a lot of wood and glass in the cases used to display their spirits.I did not count the bottles behind the bar and on the cocktail list but I am guessing it was north of 150. The music mix gives it a good vibe.

BIB3

Jasin Burt, the owner, has done it all right. Lucky for me he was tending bar that night. As I always do, I started with an Old Fashioned and Jasin makes a great cocktail. He uses Evan Williams Bottled as his house bourbon, one of my favorites. We started talking whiskey and bourbon. Our conversation could have gone on all night.

BIB4

Their happy hour is from 4-7 PM and the list of items in it will satisfy anyone. The “Bonded Happy Hour” menu includes six items at only $7 each. I started with the deviled eggs. They have bacon and relish on top of them, and they were delicious. You get six, which is easily shared by 2 or 3 people.

BIB6

While waiting on the eggs Jasin poured me a little Slaughter House Bourbon. I had never seen or tried it before. It was very good with a strong hint of cocoa. It was a nice compliment to the deviled eggs.

BIB8

I then got a pour of Forged Oak to sip with the Italian Caprese flatbread I had ordered. I was curious to try it as I have seen its price hold steady, or drop versus the other Orphan Barrel releases. It was good, and I wanted to compare it to something.

BIB7

Jasin suggested Old Forester Statesman. What a nice comparison and the Statesman really held up and shined. Both were excellent with the very flavorful flatbread.

I can’t say enough good things about Bottled in Bond. Jasin and the entire staff were very knowledgeable, friendly, and made me feel at home. I love talking bourbon when I am drinking bourbon, and I learned a lot from Jasin. The conversation was lively, and the food fantastic. If you happen to be in the North Dallas/Frisco area, it’s definitely worth a stop. They are only a stone’s throw from the new Dallas Cowboys Headquarters. You will be delighted you made the trip.

Heaven Hill launches twice-annual Old Fitz limited-edition releases

When Heaven Hill Distillery in Bardstown, Ky., announced the release in 2012 of Larceny, a brand extension of its Old Fitzgerald line, some people worried that Old Fitz’s days were numbered. Heaven Hill said no at the time, and this… Read More