George Dickel Distillery Founders
(NOTE: FOUNDERS ARE LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
1
Nicole Austin
Nicole began work at George Dickel in 2018 as the General Manager and Distiller. She doesn’t like the job title of “Master Distiller,” stating, “I have a real job, not just hand-shaking. Plus, I feel too young for that.” Indeed, she is only 38, but she has enjoyed monumental success at George Dickel. She has been vital to the significant success of several George Dickel brands, including the launch of the Cascade Moon Whisky series, George Dickel Bourbon, and George Dickel Bottled in Bond.
2
McLin & Norman Davis
George A. Dickel & Company became the sole distributor of Cascade Whisky in 1878. The following year, the distillery brought McLin Davis on board as a partner, making him their first Master Distiller.
Davis is credited with using the very high-corn, low-rye recipe that is still used today, utilizing a mash bill of 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% malted barley. McLin would work for the company in many capacities over a twenty-year career.
3
George Dickel
George Augustus Dickel was a German-American who owned a number of businesses in Nashville, Tennessee. One of his businesses was a liquor wholesaler, which was a non-distiller producer of the Cascade brand Whiskey he originally sold and distributed. Following Tennessee’s long Prohibition, eventually, the idyllic Cascade Hollow distillery was reopened in the 1950s, where it still produces traditional Tennessee Whiskey.
4
Ralph Dupps
Rosenstiel turned to Ralph Dupps to build and run the new distillery. Dupps was very familiar with the brand and his family moved to Tennessee and began work on starting the new distillery. Dupps worked to purchase 850 acres of land nearby the original Cascade Hollow distillery location. The new location had access to the same Cascade Hollow water source which comes through layers of limestone to be pure mineral and iron-free water, key to making good whisky. The new distillery is location in Coffee County.
5
John Lunn
John attended Spring Hill High School and went on to earn his Bachelor’s Degree in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University. He was a proud Tennessee native, and he got his start at George Dickel in 2004. He made Dickel whiskeys for 11 years there and served as the Master Distiller at Cascade Hollow Distillery, in Tullahoma, Tennessee. He primarily worked on the range of George Dickel Tennessee Whiskies, including "No. 8 Classic," "No. 12 Signature," & he started both "Barrel Select" expression and “Hand Selected Barrel” program
6
Manny Shwab
Victor Emmanuel “Manny” Shawb, George Dickel’s brother-in-law, who was made a full partner in Dickel and Company in 1881, bought out Sims in 1888 and held 2/3 ownership of the distillery. At this time, Dickel and Company was then Cascade Hollow’s exclusive marketer and distributor, calling it George A Dickel’s Cascade Tennessee Whiskey; the whiskey that is ‘Mellow as Moonlight’ is based on the method of cooling the mash at night begun by Davis.