Episode 19: Distiller Nicole Austin (George Dickel) talks Tennessee Whiskey
Part Two of our two-part conversation available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts.
Excerpt: On Candy Corn, Sourced Whiskey & Cage Matches
Neff: I do have a thing that I do on the way out, and it’s usually a little bit of a lightning round. So if you’re willing, I’m not going to give you the music questions that I give everybody else.
Nicole Austin: You can. I might embarrass myself, but you can ask me whatever you want.
Neff: Great. It’s October. Halloween is coming. If you had to pair Halloween candy with Dickel Twelve, what would it be?
Nicole Austin: Candy Corn. I think that there’s that honey character that Dickel 12 has, and it’s also kind of waxy. You know, candy corn is a little bit waxy and there’s always this waxy character in Dickel 12 that I really like.
Neff: I am not a hater of candy corn, so I love that answer all day long.
Sourced whiskey: thumbs up, thumbs down or in the middle?
Nicole Austin: Thumbs up as long as you’re up front about it.
Neff: Which is a good answer from someone who also sells whiskey. And your rye is sourced, right?
Nicole Austin: Sure is. MGP.
Great. One of the unsung distilleries, I think, in the modern age. MGP has made some of the best rye we’ve ever tasted.
Nicole Austin: That’s what I’m saying: pro. Why would we not want that whiskey in the world? It’s real good, and Dickel Rye sells. I’m extremely proud of that. By all means, help brands get off the ground. Cashflow is real.
Neff: And businesses need to stay in business, right?
So my brother is in his mid thirties and he’s been a bartender for a long time. You might know him, Danny Neff. He’s decided that he wants to move to the South and to become a distiller. If you had to give him one piece of advice, what would you say to him?
Nicole Austin: Try to keep your ego vaguely under control. It’s hard. I have struggled with that, but you never know everything. You learn things. And I have personally gone through this phase. So I feel like I can speak to it with some experience and all the love and empathy in the world.
There will come a time when you think you know everything and you don’t. Just try and recognize that, and know that you will continue to learn more things and the whiskey will continue to surprise you and just, you know, try and embrace that process.
Neff: This is great advice for everybody. Jeez.
Nicole Austin: Also, mind your cooling water. Very important. Make sure your cooling water flow is open and available in order to not blow yourself up.
Neff: I think there’s a metaphor for everybody else in that too.
To hear the full conversation about inclusivity in whiskey and how George Dickel would do in a cage match, listen to the full episode here.
While you’re there, check out our other Spirits Series Podcasts, and our series of Masterclasses with some of the best bartenders in the world.