George Dickel Cascade Hollow was introduced in 2007 as a stopgap to help alleviate the shortage of George Dickel 8 that started to happen around late 2006. This shortage was largely a result of the distillery being shut down from 1999-2003 due to a combination of supply exceeding demand and a wastewater issue. Though it wasn’t just the closure that created the shortage 3-4 years after it started up it’s production again, it was the surge in popularity.

In the early 2000’s, after the distillery went back online, Diageo started actively marketing George Dickel once again and a corner stone of that marketing was the newly introduced George Dickel No. 12 which consists of whisky that is almost double the age of the whiskey in the No. 8. The lack of back stock from being shut down for 4 years, plus renewed interest, plus the introduction of a new product which relied on that same back stock caused the GD 8 supply to dwindle and gave birth to the Cascade Hollow which was produced until 2012.

George Dickel Cascade Hollow Whisky Review

ABV: 40%
Age: 3 years
Price: $35 (price will vary greatly)
Distiller: George Dickel
Mashbill: 84% corn 8% rye 8% malted barley

EYE
Apple juice

NOSE
Smells like what it is. A young and rambunctious Dickel. A big dose of dried corn dominates the aroma with lighter notes of caramel, maple, butterscotch, biscuits and a touch of spice. It shows the promise of what’s will be, but in this form it comes off more as a work in progress than a finished result.

PALATE
Corn still dominates here as well but it, like all the other notes, comes across light and airy. What are those other notes you ask? Well caramel, orchard fruit, maple, toffee, spice and a light vanilla are what I’m picking up but it’s all light except for the corn which is very prominent.

FINISH
Corn, caramel, spice, and a light maple run out in a flash.

BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
It’s grain heavy so it doesn’t come across as fully balanced. Light watery body with a rough hot texture as it moves it’s way over and down.

OVERALL
Light, airy and grain driven with a surprising amount of heat it’s exactly what you would think a young hurried George Dickel would taste like and bears only a small resemblance to the fantastic stuff they’re putting out now. It was a necessary chapter in the George Dickel story, but I’m glad they’ve moved this one to the appendix. It’s a fun little expression to try and i’m glad I happened across a bottle, but it’s not something I’ll be actively hunting for again now that I’ve found one.

SCORE: 81/100

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