Bedford County Post

30 —Summer Local Living May 2024 NATHAN HAVENNER Contributor S ituated in the picturesque Cascade Hollow in Tulla- homa, Tennessee, Cascade Hollow Distilling Co. contin- ues to produce George Dickel Tennessee Whisky using the same techniques that com- pany founder George A. Dickel brought to the valley during the late 1800s. Today, visitors to the distillery located at 1950 Cascade Hollow Road, Tullahoma, can enjoy a guided tour of the facility to learn the ins and outs of the iconic Ten- nessee-made brand. Tours begin in the visitor center and gift shop, where whisky aficionados will pass by a large bust of company founder George A. Dickel. Born in Grünberg, Germany in 1818, Dickel made his way to Nashville where he operated a shoe store for about 20 years before getting into the whisky game in 1861. “He decides he is going to open himself a liquor store, and he does that at the corner of Sec- ond Street and Church Street,” guide Jaclyn Parks said. “That building still stands and there is a little plaque on it commem- orating his time there is Nash- ville.” Dickel is joined in the whisky business by his brother-in-law Victor Shwab, and they begin operating under the “George A. Dickel label.” “Now, they are rectifiers, and this is someone that is taking different whiskies from different distilleries, blending them to taste and bottling them under their own label,” Parks said. One of the whiskies used by the company was Cascade Hollow of Tullahoma. “They came to Tullahoma, rented horses and came to the hol- low,” Parks said. “At the end of the day they walked away 2/3 owner of Cascade Whisky.” About eight-years later, Dickel would sustain injuries falling from his horse, and remained an invalid until his death inNashville in 1894. Shwab would take over the family business, which would remain in family hands through prohibition before being sold to SchenleyDistilling Co. in 1953. The modern-day George Dickel brand would be launched in 1964. The b r a n d has been owned by Diageo since the 1990s. Headquartered in London, Diageo is the second-largest liquor hold- ings company in the world with assets that include Guinness, Don Julio, Ciroc and Tanqueray. In 2018, Master Distiller Ni- cole Austin took over the reins at George Dickel and set about ex- panding the product line offered out of Cascade Hollow. “She is going to be the one that is going to help us rebrand from George Dickel to Cascade Hollow,” Parks said. “It is going to give her a little leeway to get away from that traditional Dickel flavor and cre- ate some fun and new innovative products like our Cascade Moon line.” Cascade Hollowcontinues legacy of George Dickel