George Dickel 9yr McScrooge's vs. 14yr Buster's

Not too long ago I wrote a favorable review of George Dickel 17. While I liked it, it's not a value proposition at all and it would have been better at a higher proof. Sku mentioned the same in his review and went on to say that some of the private store selections he's had were better. Sku has been doing this a lot longer than most of us and I feel like I can trust his advice so I tracked down a couple of different store selections to see for myself.

George Dickel Selected by McScrooge's (Knoxville, TN)

Aged 9 years; 51.5% ABV; $56

Nose: Multivitamins, lots of corn, vanilla, and some light rye / anise spice.

Taste: Tastes just like the nose with a little more rye spice bite. The vitamin component is very forward as are the corn and sweet notes. The backend has some deeper cacao sweetness and a pretty hefty dose of wood in the finish. There's a lot of wood depth here for a 9 year old whiskey.

Thoughts: This is okay. My biggest complaint is the typical Dickel vitamin notes are way too prominent. That can be a big turn off for a lot of people and on some nights it really wears on me as well. Granted, this is a single barrel and there will be variance but I feel like this is probably very representative of 9 year old Dickel private selections. Given the price, I'll probably pass on any selections around this age in the future.

Rating: C+ / B-

George Dickel Selected by Buster's (Memphis, TN)

Aged 14 years; 53% ABV; $75

Nose: Old wood, intense vanilla, dark molasses. 

Taste: Lots and lots of oaky goodness - the wood depth here is really great. The ramped up proof has given it some heat and really amplified the rye spice notes. The prevalent vitamin and corn notes from the 9 year are there but well tamed. Overall, this is a really nice balance of proof, sweet, wood, and spice. 

Thoughts: I like this even more than the 17 year gift shop release. While it isn't quite as old, it still has a ton of wood depth which I feel is really needed to tame those weirdo Dickel flintstone vitamin notes. Another advantage it has going for it is the respectable proof. At 106 it has the umpf the 17 year was really missing and given that it is the same price for twice the volume, this is a clear winner in the quality to price ratio. I've heard rumors that these 14 year private selections are on hiatus which is a shame because I would buy this again.

Rating: B+

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.