Along with a behindthescenes look at how we make jack daniels, this tour includes a memorable stop at historic barrelhouse 1 14, where youll sip a flight of five jack products. Additionally, historically for something to be bourbon, it should be made in bourbon county, kentucky. Because it is a bourbon, just that the marketing department has decided lets leave well enough alone. The charcoal in the vats needs to be changed about every six months. Jack daniels 1907 tennessee whiskey is charcoal mellowed and matured in the cooler areas of the barrel warehouse and bottled at 37% alcohol. Bourbon giant finally acknowledges the truth after 150 years. Jack daniels is a brand of tennessee whiskey and the topselling american whiskey in the world. The other tennessee whiskey george dickel is a better whiskey if thats all you are comparing it to. Were interested in bourbon, scotch, and wine collections. When one thinks of bourbon whiskey, kentucky, the mint julep, and the oldfashioned immediately come to mind. It goes into the fascinating history of whiskey, moonshines, rye, and bourbon in the us through the use of historical archives, records, and photographs, while also profiling nolessthan 80 of the souths most elite distilleries. Writer fawn weaver spent last year digging into the unknown story of nearest green, mentor of whiskey distiller jack daniels and, per her. As robert said, jack daniels meets the us federal laws in order for it to be called a bourbon whiskey. Its a question that polarizes the bourbon and whiskey community.
I spent a couple pages on this in my book, bourbon curious, but i. Book online and join us on a trip from nashville to lynchburg to. The original recipe for legendary american whiskey jack daniels has been discovered in a book of herbal remedies in wales, it has been. Of course, jack daniel is laughing all the way to the bank. Jack daniels whiskey bills itself as a tennessee whiskey, but it meets all of the requirements of being a bourbon. A guide to the nations favorite spirit, realized that, at some point in his research, he had read that a slave was involved in jack daniels foundingbut there hadnt been much more detail to the story than that. Story went that jack daniels recipe was created by white moonshine distiller. We should protest calling it so based on the fact that it is a tennessee whiskey. You might be familiar with jack daniels whiskey brand but it was a black man named nathan nearest green who taught jack daniel an. Call it whatever you want, or just call it whiskey. The slave who taught jack daniels how to make whiskey.
Jun 26, 2015 this is the reason why jack daniels is not bourbon. Made from real whiskey barrels we have a contract with a major cooperage that supplies new white oak barrels to distilleries all over kentucky. Blood and whiskey captures daniels indomitable rise in the roughedged world of the. Mar 19, 2007 it seems a little pompous on my part to say so, yes, but jack daniels is not bourbon. The main difference between tennessee whiskey and a bourbon is that tennessee whiskey goes through one extra process after the whiskey has been distilled, and before it gets transferred in to barrels. A topselling bottling from the jack daniel distillery, the mashbill is made up of 80% corn, 12% rye and 8% malt. Jack daniels american forest value bottle blue book. Mar 28, 2018 new york times bestselling author fawn weaver is writing a new book celebrating the life of nathan nearest green, who created the most successful whiskey in the u.
While we love that bars and stores now boast big selections of the spirit, we still hear plenty of misinformation about the liquor. Unfortunately, for jack, george dickel, charles nelson and all the others labeling as tennessee whiskey, they must endure the neverending debate. The secret history of the slave behind jack daniels whiskey. I wanted to make tennessee whiskey and kentucky bourbon is not much different its just a slightly different recipe and you miss out one of the steps that you would use when making the tennessee whiskey.
Id certainly recommend checking with them anytime, and especially when searching for a hard to find item. Original recipe for jack daniels found in welsh book of herbal. It is produced in lynchburg, tennessee, by the jack daniel distillery, which has been owned by the brownforman corporation since 1956. There is more to my old friend jack daniels than i remember from my twentysomethings. The book also includes interviews with a myriad of master distillers. Jack daniels single barrel select gift box sets was not available locally but think liquor still had what i needed.
Jack daniels style whiskey barrel wedding guest book. What is almost common knowledge about jack daniel s is that it is a bourbon whiskey. The simple answer is jack daniels is a tennessee whiskey. Theres an amazing amount of interesting and contextualized history in this book as one is likely to find anywhere. Nov 20, 2017 as sales of kentucky bourbon and tennessee whiskey have rocketed, so has interest in the terroir of the region, and distilleries jack daniels and wild turkey included have opened for. Jack daniels does the charcoal filtering which is a unique characteristic of the tennessee whiskeys.
They are two different entities, kentucky bourbon and tennessee whiskey. Jack daniels fights push to loosen definition of tennessee. Because the whiskey does not work its way as deeply into the barrel wood it has a light, slightly sweet taste profile. Mar 22, 2012 the main difference between scotch and whisky is geographic, but also ingredients and spellings. Nearest green, the man who taught jack daniels about whiskey. Once theyve aged bourbon in the rickhouse, they are sent back to the cooperage, who then makes sure the barrels are once again put to good use as repurposed bourbon wood. We can get you in touch with a broker looking for rare and expensive bottles of bourbon, rye, scotch, and wine. There is a flavor about jack daniels that has some chocolate and cocoa in it. As a bartender i cringe when i see jack daniels listed under a bourbon menu. Five of the best distilleries on the american whiskey trail. While bourbon whiskey received its name from bourbon county, kentucky, no bourbon is made there today.
It is produced in lynchburg, tennessee which ironically, is a dry county meaning the product cant actually be sold there. A few words about jack daniels, his distillery in the hollow and his sippin whiskey is a folder from the late 60 ties. It is produced in lynchburg, tennessee, by the jack daniel. Check out all of jack daniels limited edition products and maybe even pick up a bottle or two. I agree with what everyone has said that, yes, it meets the requirements, but no, its not made in kentucky, so technically yes, and technically no. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. Before the distillate is placed into barrels for ageing, it is slowly filtered through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal. Buffalo trace experimental collection oat mash bourbon. Also, while a jack daniels can go from 15% up to 70% alcohol content, bourbon can go from 40% and up to 80%.
It only gets murky when people try to guess why jack daniels is. Little did we know, with just an extra step in the process, it changes entirely the type of a whiskey. Looking to sell your bottle of jack daniels american forest. She is writing a book about green, and last month introduced uncle nearest 1856, a whiskey produced on contract by another tennessee. Although it is made almost exactly like bourbon, and pretty much tastes like bourbon, jack daniels is a little bit different so its makers prefer to call it tennessee whiskey. Considering the prices without the extra shipping expense, it was a good deal and priced right. Mar 17, 2014 jack daniels fights push to loosen definition of tennessee whiskey tennessee lawmakers say current law makes it too difficult for craft distilleries to market their spirits as tennessee whiskey. I got a few books that has to do something with jack daniels or with the little vilage where this great whiskey is made, lynchburg, tn. And if you actually pull a high ranking jack member aside and really push them on it, they will confirm that technically it is a bourbon. Jack daniels country cocktails, jack daniels drinks, jack daniels party, jack daniels whiskey, jack daniels lemonade, jack and jack, jack black, party drinks, fun drinks yessir whiskey girl cigars and whiskey bourbon whiskey scotch whisky whiskey trail whiskey label irish whiskey gin whiskey quotes. Nov 28, 2017 jack daniel and tennesseans clearly do not want to be associated with bourbon, and thats just fine. Amazons choice for jack daniels whiskey cakes bourbon barrel aged kcups coffee 24ct variety pack set, single origin coffee paired with bourbon, rye whiskey, malt whiskey and rum, 24ct 4.
The newly distilled whiskey is filtered through large vats of charcoal. Jack daniel s is the bestselling bourbonstyle whiskey in the world. Is jack daniels bourbon or whiskey we have the answer. The reason it is not called a bourbon is the additional step that jack daniels take when making their whiskey. Jack daniels is, after all, available just about anywhere in the world, and is often the best whiskey on hand in much of it. Whats the difference between scotch, whiskey and bourbon. The spirit is filtered through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal to produce a mellow, slightly smoky character, thus making it tennessee whiskey. Jack daniel s chooses not to call itself bourbon, but the historic brand applies for federal label approval under the class of bourbon and tennessee whiskey is listed as straight bourbon in the north american free trade agreement.
The jack daniel s production process is as rigorous as that of any bourbon maker, and it checks every box in the bourbon rules. This is the reason why jack daniels is not bourbon. This process removes some of the impurities and harsh flavours from the spirit. Who was jack daniel and how did his jack daniels whiskey become the. The book takes a good look at the history of jack daniel and his. As far as its creation process goes, it is the same as a bourbon, with the addition of an extra step of mellowing the spirit, using sugar maple charcoal filtering, before distilling it. Over the last few years, sales of the whiskey have shot up around the world. Jack daniel s was established in 1886, and is the topselling american whiskey in the world. When jack daniels failed to honor a slave, an author rewrote. The essence of what separates a tennessee whiskey like jack daniels from kentucky bourbon whiskey is the lincoln county process.
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