Nicole Austin

Coming Up

Chemical Engineering at Manhattan College gave Nicole Austin a foundation built around process, precision, and the mechanics of change. That training carried into spirits at Kings County Distillery, where she worked as Master Blender from 2010. The shift into whiskey did not replace the technical side of the work; it put that training to use in a field where measurement and sensory judgment have to stay in step. The career that followed moved by accumulation rather than rupture. Whiskey offered a setting where aroma, texture, and balance could be read through both engineering and taste, and Austin’s roles expanded accordingly. Since 2018, she has been director of George Dickel & Luxury American Whiskey of Diageo North America / George Dickel, and since 2022 she has also served as General Manager and distiller of George Dickel. The progression runs from production to leadership, with the craft staying continuous even as the scope widened.

Where They Are Now

General Manager and Distiller — Cascade Hollow Distilling Company, and Director of George Dickel and Luxury North American Whiskey — George Dickel (Tennessee) are the titles that define Nicole Austin’s current work. Together they point to a remit that includes both making and managing, with the technical habits of an engineer still visible in the way the job is framed. “I really had no idea it was even a career that I could pursue until well after I had graduated,” Nicole Austin says, and that delay is part of the shape of the story. “It wasn’t until a few years later, while exploring whiskies, that it occurred to me that my expertise would enable me to move into something as artful and beautiful as making whiskey!” The emphasis lands on fit: a technical background meeting a craft that rewards judgment, consistency, and sensory control.

Signature

Nicole's signature wines include George Dickel Bottled in Bond Distilling Season Fall 2005, Cascade Moon Whisky, Dickel Bourbon, and George Dickel x Leopold Bros Collaboration Blend. Each release sits in a different part of the house range, from the exacting label of George Dickel Bottled in Bond Distilling Season Fall 2005 to the collaborative frame of George Dickel x Leopold Bros Collaboration Blend. Read together, they show a body of work that moves between continuity and variation within the same whiskey language.

In Their Words “It wasn’t until a few years later, while exploring whiskies, that it occurred to me that my expertise would enable me to move into something as artful and beautiful as making whiskey!” “I really had no idea it was even a career that I could pursue until well after I had graduated.”

Honors

Nicole's honors include Distillery Manager (2021) and Distiller of the Year (2020). Those awards register the consolidation of a practice built across blending, distilling, engineering, and management. From Manhattan College to Kings County Distillery and then into George Dickel, Austin’s work shows how technical training can be carried into whiskey without losing the hand of the maker.