I've been excited to taste this unusual collaboration between a small distiller in Colorado, Leopold Bros, and a large, very old distiller in Tullahoma, TN, George Dickel. Todd Leopold dug deep into the history of rye whiskey distillation in America to find a forgotten piece of technology in the three-chamber still and not only bring it to light but bring it back to life. He sourced heritage grain Abruzzi rye that he says was favored by pre-prohibition distillers and used it in the three-chamber still to produce a whiskey truly reminiscent of what would have been distilled and enjoyed back then (rather than just another nonsensical story on a label). That expression - read more about that and watch the well-done video with Todd Leopold at https://www.leopoldbros.com/threechamber - carries a price tag north of $250 so the chance to try at least some of that whiskey along with the first rye whiskey actually distilled by Dickel in Tullahoma for less than half that price, well that was too good to pass up. It also helped that my wife surprised me by bringing home the bottle seen here because let's be practical, $110 is still a lot of money for a bottle of whiskey. My wife is amazing!
The short version is that I really like this rye whiskey. It's viscous, rich, and full of wonderful flavors and it shows off both the three-chamber and the Dickel column distilled distillate. That said, it is different so if a $100+ experiment gives you pause, I'd strongly suggest buying a pour at your favorite bar or restaurant or working at a trade for a sample before diving into a full bottle. But for all of the overpriced, underwhelming bottles on shelves these days, this is one that in my opinion is worthy of its price tag.
Cheers!
@GeorgeDickelUS @Leopold Bros. #ryewhiskey #threechamberstill
