The regular HD Tennessee Bourbon might not be from George Dickel, for a couple of reasons, but this Heaven’s Door 10-year Tennessee Bourbon can’t really be anything else. The age removes any chance of it being from a small/craft producer and the use of the Lincoln County Process eliminated Prichards. That leaves Dickel and Daniels and JD doesn’t let barrels out the door.
Then there’s way it tastes and smells and the differences between JD and GD are night and day. This carries that distinct house style of George Dickel, which we’ll delve into deeper in the Tennessee bourbon review below.
Heaven’s Door 10-year Tennessee Bourbon Review: Details and Tasting Notes
A rich and full-bodied whiskey, the 10 Year Tennessee Straight Bourbon is mellowed right after coming off the still using charcoal columns from aged Tennessee sugar maple trees, a method traditionally known as the “Lincoln County Process.” The low rye content also allows the best of a decade of barrel aging to shine through.
Details (price, mash bill, cask type, ABV, etc.)
Region: Indiana, USA
Distiller: George Dickel (assumed)
Bottler: Heaven’s Door
Mash Bill: 84% Corn, 8% Rye, 8% Malted Barley
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 10 Years
ABV: 50%
Price: $130*
Tasting Notes
EYE
Caramel
NOSE
Dried corn, peanuts, dark fruit leather, oak, spice and some vanilla frosting and Smarties.
PALATE
Dried corn, oak, peanuts, dark fruit, spice, leather and some vanilla frosting, Smarties and orange peel.
FINISH
Long -> Dried corn, oak, vanilla, cocoa powder, spice.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Great balance, full round body and a silken feel.
Heaven’s Door 10-year Tennessee Bourbon Review: Overall and Score
If it smells like George Dickel and tastes like George Dickel… The Aroma is wonderfully dark and sweet with those heavy rustic notes of oak, corn and nuts leading the way; Palate follows suit with an even heavier oak profile rising up; Finish is great with a slow fade that moves from dried corn to baking spice with a constant oak presence.
I like everything about it; it reminds me of some of the best George Dickel Single Barrel releases I’ve had. From aroma through finish this George Dickel, I mean Heaven’s Door 10-year Tennessee Bourbon, is what you want from a whiskey like this. They sourced some great barrels for this one.
SCORE: 90/100 (A-)
*Disclosure: This Heaven’s Door 10-year Tennessee Bourbon sample was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
Heaven's Door 10-year Tennessee Bourbon Review 130
Heaven's Door 10-year Tennessee Bourbon Review Summary
Heaven’s Door 10-year Tennessee Bourbon is a fantastic lot of sourced whiskey from Tennessee. I believe it to be George Dickel which is typically outstanding at 10-14 years so it’s no surprise this is so tasty.
Overall
- Nose - 90
- Palate - 91
- Finish - 90
- Balance, Body & Feel - 90
User Review
( votes)( reviews)
I may have to break down and actually spend the $130 or so on this. In my part of Connecticut Dickel ( except the rye ) has become impossible to find. The two stores I frequent don’t have any longer. Even the Total Wine is out of it. I wonder if all their ‘contract’ and ‘sourcing’ has cut into their stock? I love it especially in summer so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Oh man that sucks. I’ve been wondering about future ramifications on that as well. Diageo doesn’t seem to be focusing too much on them, but instead have turned them into the MGP of Tennessee. Normally I’d say see if you can find some store picks for about 1/2-1/3 the price, but if it’s all dried up out there that might not be an option…
I think you might be right : the MGP of Tennessee . I can’t think of any other reason for it being off the shelves around here : and they bottle it 30 miles away in Stamford! Wish I like Jack Daniels but I tried Gentleman Jack last year and it was the only whiskey I ever dumped.
I’d have it shipped but CT is one of those states that won’t allow spirits to be shipped to a individual. Plus they have a 13 year old Bonded now : hope you get to review that.
I just got 2 bottles of that 13 yo bonded ordered. That sucks CT is a no ship state… hit me up on the email listed on the Contact section. Seriously.
Dude! I picked up a 200ml of Gentleman recently before going out with some friends (it was $6) and after we passed it around I couldn’t give it away. Something has changed. It’s nowhere near what it was (or maybe I’m not) when I reviewed it. It was terrible.
That’s the bottle I bought. It was in a bin in the store : $4.99! It tasted like fizzed stale root beer. I had never tried Jack Daniels and wanted to like it. I think you wrote once that the single barrels are worth trying? Those are readily available round here.
Fizzled rootbeer is good a good parallel, it was horrible.
Yeah those SiBs can be good, but I’ve noticed the biggest variance of any SiB program in the JD one. Some have been truly spectacular, where I’m standing there going “this is JD?!?!?”, and others have been… less than average. Try to get a taste before you buy a specific barrel if you can.
$130 or for $35 you can buy 13 year old 100 proof Dickel direct from the distillery.
And store picks aged 9+ years and bottled at cask strength are around $45. Which is where I’d put my money since they can be every bit as good for 1/3 the price.