American

Whiskey Review: George Dickel x Leopold Bros Collaboration Blend Rye

We review George Dickel x Leopold Bros. Collaboration Blend Rye. It blends Dickel rye with rye distilled on Leopold Bros.' recreated historic three-column still.

OVERALL RATING

7
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George Dickel x Leopold Bros. Collaboration Blend Rye (image via Debbie Nelson)

Tasting Notes

About:

Appearance:
Golden brown; thick legs on the side of the glass, collecting in big teardrops.
Nose:
Far more sweet than I typically associate with a rye. There is a citrusy spice, but the predominant smells are brown sugar, molasses, orange slices, and cotton candy.
Palate:
I don’t know about “heavy bodied,” but there is structure in this whiskey. You can almost chew it. It starts off a little astringent, but mellows out and is warm and spicy on the finish. This is a rye that hits you in the mouth, not with rye spice but just with its intensity. Personally, I liked it better with a few drops of water to mellow it out. That actually allows you to taste the rye better.
Finish:
Comments:
Neat, this is not a bad whiskey. It lives up to its full-bodied promise. With a few drops of water, though, it becomes a really good one. That’s when it starts to taste like a rye I recognize. No self-respecting cowboy on the frontier would drink it that way, I’m sure. But in 2022, it seems to work. All in all, this is a whiskey I’ll be happy to pour alongside other interesting ryes on my bar.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

Scott Bernard Nelson

Scott Bernard Nelson is a writer, actor, and whiskey reviewer based in Portland, Oregon. While currently working in higher education, he previously dedicated 22 years to journalism, covering impactful events such as 9/11 in Manhattan, crossing into Iraq with U.S. Marines, and contributing to The Boston Globe's Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of abuse in the Catholic Church, which inspired the film "Spotlight." Since 2019, Scott has shared his insights as a whiskey reviewer for The Whiskey Wash.  

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