Jack Daniel's is a brand of
Tennessee whiskey
Tennessee whiskey is straight whiskey produced in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Although it has been legally defined as a bourbon whiskey in some international trade agreements, most current producers of Tennessee whiskey disclaim references to ...
. It is produced in
Lynchburg, Tennessee
Lynchburg is a city in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is governed by a consolidated city-county government unit whose boundaries coincide with those of Moore County. Lynchburg is best known as the location of Jack Dan ...
, by the Jack Daniel Distillery, which has been owned by the
Brown–Forman Corporation since 1956.
Packaged in square bottles, Jack Daniel's "Black Label" Tennessee whiskey sold 12.5 million nine-liter cases in the fiscal year ending on April 30, 2017. Other brand variations, such as Tennessee Honey, Gentleman Jack, Tennessee Fire, and
ready to drink
Ready to drink (often known as RTD) packaged beverages are those sold in a prepared form, ready for consumption. Examples include iced tea (prepared using tea leaves and fruit juice) and alcopops (prepared by mixing alcoholic beverages with frui ...
(RTD) products brought the total to more than 16.1 million equivalent adjusted cases for the entire Jack Daniel's family of brands.
Early life of Jasper Daniel
The Jack Daniel's brand's official website suggests that its founder,
Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel, was born in 1850 (his tombstone bears that date
), but says his exact birth date is unknown.
The company website says it is customary to celebrate his birthday in September.
["People" section of Jack Daniel's website]
Retrieved: March 20, 2014. According to the Tennessee state library website in 2013, records list his birth date as September 5, 1846. It maintains that the 1850 birth date seems impossible since his mother died in 1847.
In the 2004 biography ''Blood & Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel'', author Peter Krass said his investigation showed that Daniel was born in January 1849 (based on Jack's sister's diary, census records, and the date of death of Jack's mother).
Jack was the youngest of 10 children born to his mother, Lucinda (Cook) Daniel, and father Calaway Daniel. After Lucinda's death, his father remarried and had three more children.
Calaway Daniel's father, Joseph "Job" Daniel, had emigrated from
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
with his
Scottish wife, the former Elizabeth Calaway.
[Jeanne Ridgway Bigger, "Jack Daniel's Distillery and Lynchburg: A Visit to Moore County, Tennessee", ''Tennessee Historical Quarterly'', Vol. 31, No. 1 (Spring 1972), pp. 3-21.] Jack Daniel's ancestry included
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, and
Scots-Irish as well.
Jack did not get along with his stepmother. After Daniel's father died in the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, the boy ran away from home and was essentially orphaned at a young age.
Career of Jasper Daniel
![Jack Daniel (brewer)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Jack_Daniel_%28brewer%29.jpg)
As a teenager, Daniel was taken in by Dan Call, a local lay preacher and
moonshine distiller. He began learning the distilling trade from Call and his Master Distiller,
Nathan "Nearest" Green, an enslaved African-American man. Green continued to work with Call after
emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...
.
In 1875, on receiving an inheritance from his father's estate (following a long dispute with his siblings), Daniel founded a legally registered distilling business with Call. He took over the distillery shortly afterward when Call quit for religious reasons.
The brand label on the product says "Est. & Reg. in 1866", but his biographer has cited official registration documents, asserting that the business was not established until 1875.
[ (page 7 saying "after he was born in 1849", and page 19 saying "By the time Jack was born in January 1849, ...")]
After taking over the distillery in 1884, Daniel purchased the hollow and land where the distillery is now located.
By the 1880s, Jack Daniel's was one of 15 distilleries operating in Moore County, and the second-most productive behind Tom Eaton's Distillery.
[Carroll Van West, Megan Dobbs, and Brian Eades]
National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Lynchburg Historic District
Southern Places Database (MTSU Center for Historic Preservation), 1995. He began using square-shaped bottles, intended to convey a sense of fairness and integrity, in 1897.
According to Daniel's biographer, the origin of the "Old No. 7" brand name was the number assigned to Daniel's distillery for government registration.
He was forced to change the registration number when the federal government redrew the district, and he became Number 16 in district 5 instead of No. 7 in district 4. However, he continued to use his original number as a brand name, since the brand reputation had already been established.
An entirely different explanation is given in the 1967 book ''Jack Daniel's Legacy'' which states that the name was chosen in 1887 after a visit to a merchant friend in Tullahoma, who had built a chain of seven stores.
Jack Daniel's had a surge in popularity after the whiskey received the gold medal for the finest whiskey at the
1904 St. Louis World's Fair. However, its local reputation began to suffer as the
temperance movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
began gaining strength in Tennessee.
![Lem-Motlow-house-tn1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Lem-Motlow-house-tn1.jpg)
Jack Daniel never married and did not have any known children. He took his nephews under his wing – one of whom was Lemuel "Lem" Motlow (1869–1947).
Lem, a son of Daniel's sister, Finetta,
was skilled with numbers. He soon took responsibility for the distillery's bookkeeping.
In failing health, Jack Daniel gave the distillery to Lem Motlow and another nephew in 1907.
Motlow soon bought out his partner, and went on to operate the distillery for about 40 years.
Tennessee passed a statewide
prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
law in 1910, effectively barring the legal distillation of Jack Daniel's within the state. Motlow challenged the law in a test case that eventually worked its way to the
Tennessee Supreme Court
The Tennessee Supreme Court is the ultimate judicial tribunal of the state of Tennessee. Roger A. Page is the Chief Justice.
Unlike other states, in which the state attorney general is directly elected or appointed by the governor or state leg ...
. The court upheld the law as constitutional.
Daniel died in 1911 from
blood poisoning
Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is foll ...
. An oft-told tale is that the infection began in one of his toes, which Daniel injured one early morning at work by kicking his safe in anger when he could not get it open (he was said to always have had trouble remembering the combination). But Daniel's modern biographer has asserted that this account is not true.
Because of prohibition in Tennessee, the company shifted its distilling operations to
St Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, Missouri, and
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, Alabama. None of the production from these locations was ever sold due to quality problems.
The Alabama operation was halted following a similar statewide prohibition law in that state, and the St. Louis operation fell to the onset of nationwide prohibition following passage of the
Eighteenth Amendment in 1920.
While the passage of the
Twenty-first Amendment in 1933 repealed prohibition at the federal level, state prohibition laws (including Tennessee's) remained in effect, thus preventing the Lynchburg distillery from reopening. Motlow, who had become a
Tennessee state senator
The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.
The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...
, led efforts to repeal these laws, which allowed production to restart in 1938. The five-year gap between national repeal and Tennessee repeal was commemorated in 2008 with a gift pack of two bottles, one for the 75th anniversary of the end of prohibition and a second commemorating the 70th anniversary of the reopening of the distillery.
The Jack Daniel's distillery ceased operations from 1942 to 1946 when the U.S. government banned the manufacture of whiskey due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Motlow resumed production of Jack Daniel's in 1947 after good-quality corn was again available.
Motlow died the same year, bequeathing the distillery to his children, Robert, Reagor, Dan, Conner, and Mary, upon his death.
![Officesign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Officesign.JPG)
The company was later incorporated as "Jack Daniel Distillery, Lem Motlow, Prop., Inc.", allowing the company to continue to include Motlow in its tradition-oriented marketing. Likewise, company advertisements continue to use Lynchburg's 1960s-era population figure of 361, though the city has since formed a
consolidated city-county
In United States local government, a consolidated city-county is formed when one or more cities and their surrounding county ( parish in Louisiana, borough in Alaska) merge into one unified jurisdiction. As such it has the governmental powers o ...
government with
Moore County. Its official population is more than 6,000, according to the
2010 census.
The company was sold to the
Brown–Forman
The Brown–Forman Corporation is an American company, one of the largest in the Distilled beverage, spirits and wine business. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, it manufactures several well known brands throughout the world, including Jack Daniel' ...
Corporation in 1956.
The Jack Daniel's Distillery was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1972.
In 2012, a Welshman, Mark Evans, claimed to have discovered the original recipe for Daniel's whiskey, in a book written in 1853 by his great-great-grandmother. Her brother-in-law had emigrated to Tennessee.
Recent history
Lowering to 80 proof
![Jack-Daniels-1908-ad](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Jack-Daniels-1908-ad.jpg)
Until 1987, Jack Daniel's black label was historically produced at 90 U.S.
proof (45%
alcohol by volume). The lower-end green label product was 80 proof. However, starting in 1987, the other label variations also were reduced in proof. This began with black label being initially reduced to 86 proof. Both the black and green label expressions are made from the same ingredients; the difference is determined by professional tasters, who decide which of the batches would be sold under the "premium" black label, with the rest being sold as "standard" green label.
A further dilution began in 2002 when all generally available Jack Daniel's products were reduced to 80 proof, thus further lowering
production cost
Cost of goods sold (COGS) is the carrying value of goods sold during a particular period.
Costs are associated with particular goods using one of the several formulas, including specific identification, first-in first-out (FIFO), or average cost. ...
s and
excise taxes.
["Weaker Jack Daniel's Becomes Spirits Strongman"]
''Advertising Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in m ...
'', May 16, 2005. This reduction in alcohol content, which was done without any announcement, publicity or change of logo or packaging,
was noticed and condemned by ''
Modern Drunkard Magazine
''Modern Drunkard'' is a glossy color periodical humorously promoting the lifestyle of the "functional alcoholic".
History
Frank Kelly Rich founded ''Modern Drunkard'' in 1996. The first issue was 16 photocopied pages with made-up ads; in 20 ...
'', and the magazine formed a
petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...
drive for drinkers who disagreed with the change.
The company countered that it believed consumers preferred lower-proof products, and said that the change had not hurt the sales of the brand.
The petition effort garnered some publicity and collected more than 13,000 signatures, but the company held firm with its decision.
["A Legacy Betrayed"]
, Modern Drunkard Magazine, 2002. A few years later, ''
Advertising Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in m ...
'' said in 2005 that "virtually no one noticed" the change, and confirmed that sales of the brand had actually increased since the dilution began.
Jack Daniel's has also produced higher-proof special releases and premium-brand expressions at times. A one-time limited run of 96 proof, the highest proof Jack Daniel's had ever bottled at that time, was bottled for the 1996 Tennessee Bicentennial in a decorative bicentennial bottle. The distillery debuted its 94 proof "Jack Daniel's Single Barrel" in February 1997. The Silver Select Single Barrel was formerly the company's highest proof at 100, but is available only in
duty-free shops
A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who ...
. Now, there are '
single barrel barrel proof' editions, ranging from 125 to 140 proof.
Sales and brand value status
Jack Daniel's Black Label Tennessee Whiskey is the best-selling whiskey in the world and remains the flagship product of Brown–Forman Corporation. During the fiscal year ended April 30, 2017, the product had sales of 12.5 million cases. Underlying net sales for the Jack Daniel's brand grew by 3% (−1% on a reported basis). Other brand variations, such as Tennessee Honey, Gentleman Jack, and Tennessee Fire, added another 2.9 million cases to sales. Sales of an additional 800,000 equivalent cases in
ready to drink
Ready to drink (often known as RTD) packaged beverages are those sold in a prepared form, ready for consumption. Examples include iced tea (prepared using tea leaves and fruit juice) and alcopops (prepared by mixing alcoholic beverages with frui ...
(RTD) products brought the fiscal year total to more than 16.1 million equivalent adjusted cases for the entire Jack Daniel's family of brands.
Tennessee Honey and Tennessee Fire were also solid contributors to the total underlying net sales growth of 3% (flat on a reported basis) for the Jack Daniel's family of brands. They grew underlying net sales by 4% and 14% (3% and 18% on a reported basis), respectively. Premium brand Gentleman Jack grew underlying net sales mid-single digits, while the RTD/RTP segment increased underlying net sales by 6% (3% on a reported basis).
In the IWSR 2013 World Class Brands rankings of wine and spirits brands, Jack Daniel's was ranked third on the global level. More recently, in 2017, it ranked at number 16 on the IWSR's Real 100 Spirits Brands Worldwide list. Additionally, the brand evaluation consultancy ''Intangible Business'' ranked Jack Daniel's fourth on its Power 100 Spirits and Wine list in both 2014 and 2015.
Sponsorships
![Holden VE Commodore of Todd Kelly](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Holden_VE_Commodore_of_Todd_Kelly.jpg)
From 2006 until 2015, Jack Daniel's sponsored
V8 Supercar
The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport.
Supercars events take place in all Australian ...
teams
Perkins Engineering
Perkins Engineering was a team contesting the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series, operating as an active racing team between 1986 and 2008. From 2009 onwards, the involvement of Perkins Engineering in the championship wounded back into ...
and
Kelly Racing
Kelly Grove Racing (formerly known as Kelly Racing and Nissan Motorsport) was an Australian motor racing team which competes in the Supercars Championship. The team made its debut in 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series, 2009, and raced Holden ...
. Jack Daniel's also sponsored the
Richard Childress Racing 07 car (numbered after the "Old No. 7") in the
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
Sprint Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
from 2005 to 2009, beginning with driver
Dave Blaney
David Louis Blaney (born October 24, 1962) is a semi-retired American professional stock car racing driver. Blaney was a successful sprint car driver before he started racing in NASCAR, competing in both the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Ser ...
and soon moving to
Clint Bowyer
Clinton Edward Bowyer (born May 30, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and commentator for ''NASCAR on Fox''.
He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2020, driving for Richard Childress Racing for eight yea ...
. Jack Daniel's also sponsors
Zac Brown Band
Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini ( fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukulel ...
's tours.
Master distillers
Former Master Distillers include
Nathan "Nearest" Green (1875–81), Jess Motlow (1911–41), Lem Tolley (1941–64), Jess Gamble (1964–66), and Frank Bobo (1966–92).
Jimmy Bedford held the position for 20 years.
Bedford retired in mid-2008 after being the subject of a $3.5 million sexual harassment lawsuit against the company that ended in an out-of-court settlement, and he died on August 7, 2009, after suffering a heart attack at his home in Lynchburg.
Jeff Arnett, a company employee since 2001, became Master Distiller in 2008. On September 3, 2020, Arnett announced that he was stepping down from the company. On April 20, 2021, he announced that he and partners were opening Company Distilling, a new whiskey distillery, near the Great Smokey Mountains.
Chris Fletcher became the 8th Master Distiller in 2020 after serving as Assistant Master Distiller for six years prior. Fletcher is the grandson of former Master Distiller, Frank Bobo.
Tennessee Squires
A Tennessee Squire is a member of the Tennessee Squire Association, which was formed in 1956 to honor special friends of the Jack Daniel's distillery. Many prominent business and entertainment professionals are included among the membership, which is obtained only through recommendation of a current member. Squires receive a wallet card and deed certificate proclaiming them as "owner" of an unrecorded plot of land at the distillery and an honorary citizen of
Moore County, Tennessee.
Production process
The
mash for Jack Daniel's is composed of 80% corn, 12% rye, and 8%
malted
Malting is the process of steeping, germinating and drying grain to convert it into malt. The malt is mainly used for brewing or whisky making, but can also be used to make malt vinegar or malt extract. Various grains are used for malting, mo ...
barley, and is distilled in copper stills.
It is then filtered through stacks of
sugar maple
''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prim ...
charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
.
The company refers to this filtering step as "mellowing". This extra step, known as the
Lincoln County Process, removes impurities and the taste of corn.
The company argues this extra step makes the product different from bourbon. However, Tennessee whiskey is required to be "a straight Bourbon Whiskey" under terms of the
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
and Canadian law.
A distinctive aspect of the filtering process is that the Jack Daniel's brand grinds its charcoal before using it for filtering. After the filtering, the whiskey is stored in newly handcrafted
oak barrels
Oak is used in winemaking to vary the color, flavor, tannin profile and texture of wine. It can be introduced in the form of a barrel during the fermentation or aging periods, or as free-floating chips or staves added to wine fermented in a v ...
, which give the whiskey its color and most of its flavor.
The product label mentions that it is a "
sour mash
Sour mash (or sourmash) is a process used in the distilling industry that uses material from an older batch of mash to start the fermentation of a new batch, analogous to the making of sourdough bread with a starter. The term can also be used ...
" whiskey, which means that when the mash is prepared, some of the wet solids from a previously used batch are mixed in to help make the fermentation process operate more consistently. This is common practice in American whiskey production. (, all
straight
Straight may refer to:
Slang
* Straight, slang for heterosexual
** Straight-acting, an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype
* Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture
Sport and games
* ...
bourbon is produced using the sour mash process.)
Prior to 2014, the company's barrels were produced by Brown-Forman in Louisville, Kentucky. That year, the company opened a new cooperage in
Trinity, Alabama
Trinity is a town in Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area and the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 2,526, up from 2,095 in 2010. ...
.
Legal status
On a state level, Tennessee has imposed stringent requirements. To be labeled as
Tennessee whiskey
Tennessee whiskey is straight whiskey produced in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Although it has been legally defined as a bourbon whiskey in some international trade agreements, most current producers of Tennessee whiskey disclaim references to ...
, it is not enough under state law that the whiskey be produced in Tennessee; it must meet quality and production standards. These are the same standards used by Jack Daniel's Distillery, and some other distillers are displeased with the requirements being enshrined into law.
On May 13, 2013, Tennessee Governor
Bill Haslam
William Edward Haslam (; born August 23, 1958) is an American billionaire businessman and politician who served as the 49th governor of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam previously served as the 67th mayor of ...
signed House Bill 1084, requiring the Lincoln County process to be used for products produced in the state labeling themselves as "Tennessee Whiskey", with a particular exception tailored to exempt
Benjamin Prichard's
Benjamin Prichard's Tennessee Whiskey is a brand of Tennessee whiskey produced in the small community of Kelso, Tennessee in the United States. Although it is produced by one of only two distilleries operating in Lincoln County – and its unage ...
, and including the existing requirements for bourbon.
As federal law requires statements of origin on labels to be accurate, the Tennessee law effectively gives a firm definition to Tennessee whiskey, requiring Tennessee origin, maple charcoal filtering by the Lincoln County process prior to aging, and the basic requirements of
bourbon Bourbon may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash
* Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels
* Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit
* A beer produced by Bras ...
(at least 51% corn, new oak barrels, charring of the barrels, and limits on
alcohol by volume concentration for distillation, aging, and bottling).
In 2014, legislation was introduced in the Tennessee legislature that would modify the 2013 law to allow the reuse of oak barrels in the Tennessee whiskey aging process. Jack Daniel's Master Distiller Jeff Arnett vehemently opposed the legislation, arguing the reuse of barrels would require the use of artificial colorings and flavorings, and would render Tennessee whiskey an inferior product to Scotch and bourbon.
The company was the subject of a proposal to locally
surtax
A surtax is a tax levied upon another tax, also known as tax surcharge.
Canada
The provincial portion of the value-added tax on goods and services in two Canadian jurisdictions, Québec and Prince Edward Island, was formerly calculated as a surt ...
its product in 2011. It was claimed that the distillery, the main employer in a
company town, had capitalized on the bucolic image of
Lynchburg, Tennessee, and it ought to pay a tax of $10 per barrel. The company responded that such a tax is a confiscatory imposition penalizing it for the success of the enterprise. The proposed tax faced a vote by the Metro Lynchburg-Moore County Council and was defeated 10–5.
Moore County, where the Jack Daniel's distillery is located, is one of the state's many
dry counties
A dry county is a County (United States), county in the United States whose government forbids the sale of any kind of alcoholic beverages. Some prohibit off-premises sale, some prohibit on-premises sale, and some prohibit both. Dozens of dry c ...
. While it is legal to distill the product within the county, it is illegal to purchase it there. However, a state law has provided one exception: a distillery may sell one commemorative product, regardless of county statutes. Jack Daniel's now sells Gentleman Jack, Jack Daniel's Single Barrel, the original No. 7 blend (in a commemorative bottle), and a seasonal blend (on rotation) at the distillery's White Rabbit Bottle Shop.
Labels
* ''Old No. 7'', also known as "Black Label": this is the original Jack Daniel's label (80 proof/40%
ABV
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
; previously 90 proof/45% ABV until 1987).
* ''Gentleman Jack'': Charcoal filtered twice, compared to once with Old No. 7 (80 proof/40% ABV)
* ''Single Barrel'': Whiskey sourced from a single barrel in the company's warehouse (94 proof/47% ABV)
* ''Tennessee Honey'': Honey liqueur blended with less than 20% whiskey (70 proof/35% ABV)
* ''Tennessee Fire'': Cinnamon liqueur blended with less than 20% whiskey (70 proof/35% ABV)
* ''Tennessee Apple'': Apple liqueur blended with less than 20% whiskey (70 proof/35% ABV)
* ''Tennessee Rye'': (90 proof/45% ABV)
* ''Green Label'': A lighter-bodied bottling of Old No. 7, not available everywhere (80 proof/40% ABV)
* ''1907'': A lighter, slightly sweeter bottling of Old No. 7, from the cooler areas of the warehouse and sold in the Australian market (74 proof/37% ABV)
* ''Silver Select'': For export only (100 proof/50% ABV).
* ''Winter Jack'': Seasonal blend of apple cider liqueur and spices (30 proof/15% ABV)
* ''No. 27 Gold'': Limited release (80 proof/40% ABV)
* Sinatra Select: Tribute to Jack's biggest fan: Mr.
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
(90 proof / 45% ABV)
* Sinatra Century: Honors the 100th birthday of Frank Sinatra (100 proof / 50% ABV); Limited Edition
* ''Single Barrel Barrel Proof'' (125–140 proof / 62.5–70% ABV, depending on the bottle you get)
*Single Barrel Rye: a permanent line extension and the brand's first fully matured rye whiskey, launched 2016 (94 proof/47% ABV)
* Single Barrel Select Eric Church Edition (94 proof/47% ABV)
* Bottled-In-Bond only on military bases (100 proof/50% ABV)
Distillery
![Jack Daniel statue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Jack_Daniel_statue.JPG)
The Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg is situated in and around a hollow known as "Stillhouse Hollow" or "Jack Daniel's Hollow", where a spring flows from a cave at the base of a
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
cliff. The limestone removes iron from the water, making it ideal for distilling whiskey (water heavy in iron gives whiskey a bad taste).
The spring feeds into nearby East Fork Mulberry Creek, which is part of the
Elk River watershed. Some 1.9 million barrels containing the aging whiskey are stored in several dozen barrelhouses, some of which adorn the adjacent hilltops and are visible throughout Lynchburg.
The distillery is a major tourist attraction, drawing more than a quarter of a million visitors annually.
[Beth Haynes,]
HomeGrown: Jack Daniel's Distillery
", WBIR.com, December 4, 2012. Retrieved: March 21, 2014. The visitor center, dedicated in June 2000, contains memorabilia related to the distillery and a gift shop. Paid tours of the distillery are conducted several times per day and a premium sampling tour is also offered.
In February 2016, a $140 million expansion was announced for the distillery, including a plan to expand the visitors center and add two more barrel houses.
Cocktails
* Jack Daniel's is the alcoholic component of "
Jack and Coke", a common variant of a
cocktail also known as Bourbon and Coke.
[Walker, Tracy]
Walker
. "It's clear that brown spirits have gained momentum, particularly the Tennessee whiskey segment." Retrieved February 1, 2007. In January 2016'', Food and Beverage'' magazine dubbed the drink "The Lemmy" in honor of singer and bassist from the band
Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
,
Lemmy Kilmister
Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...
, who died in December 2015, as it was his regular drink.
* Jack Daniel's is also the alcoholic component of "
Lynchburg Lemonade
A Lynchburg lemonade is a cocktail (a long drink) made with, among other ingredients, Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey and a citrus-flavored soda or juice. It is named after Lynchburg, Tennessee, home of the Jack Daniel's distillery. A typical re ...
".
* Jack Daniel's is a common choice for the Tennessee Whiskey component of the "
Three Wise Men
3 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
3, three, or III may also refer to:
* AD 3, the third year of the AD era
* 3 BC, the third year before the AD era
* March, the third month
Books
* '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 190 ...
".
Gallery
File:Grain mill at Jack Daniel's Distillery.jpg, Grain mill at Jack Daniel's Distillery
File:Whiskey barrels.jpg, Whiskey barrels in the distillery
File:Whiskeybarrels.JPG, Inside the barrels
Cultural references
Notable drinkers of Jack Daniel's
*
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
was a Jack Daniel's drinker. He was buried with a bottle of Jack Daniel's in 1998.
*
Lemmy Kilmister
Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...
of
Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
cited Jack Daniel's as his drink of choice. Often in media appearances he would be seen drinking Jack Daniel's and
Coke, and he reportedly drank a whole bottle every day for 38 years.
Cover art
* The cover of
Mel McDaniel
Melvin Huston McDaniel (September 6, 1942 – March 31, 2011) was an American country music artist. Many of his top hits were released in the 1980s, including " Louisiana Saturday Night", " Big Ole Brew", " Stand Up", " Baby's Got Her Blue Jea ...
’s 1980 album ''
I'm Countryfied
''I'm Countryfied'' is the third studio album by Mel McDaniel released in 1980. The album peaked at number 24 on the Top Country Albums charts. The biggest hit on the album, and also one of McDaniel's biggest hits, was " Louisiana Saturday Night," ...
'' featured a design based on the label of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
* The cover of
Patrick Wensink
Patrick Wensink (born 1979) is an American author.
His novel ''Broken Piano for President'' received increased publicity when the whiskey company Jack Daniel's Properties (a subsidiary of Brown–Forman) sent a politely worded cease-and-desist ...
's book ''Broken Piano for President'' featured a design based on the label of Jack Daniel's whiskey, which resulted in a
cease-and-desist
A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not disc ...
letter from the company. However, the whiskey company said it could be done upon the book's next reprinting and it would compensate the author if he chose to comply during the current run.
* The cover of
''The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band'', an autobiography collectively written by the members of the rock band
Mötley Crüe, includes a bottle design based on that of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
* The
Charlie Daniels Band album ''Way Down Yonder'' depicts bottles of Jack Daniel's on its cover art.
See also
*
Outline of whisky
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to whisky:
Whisky (also spelled whiskey) is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used ...
*
List of historic whisky distilleries
This article is a list of historic whisky distilleries and distillery companies. It includes some that are still operating and some that are not, and includes those claiming to be the oldest or to have other historically important characteristics. ...
* Major competitor brands
**
George Dickel
George Dickel is a brand of Tennessee whisky produced in Tullahoma, in Coffee County, Tennessee. Today owned by Diageo, the modern brand was introduced in 1964, though the distillery has a longer history. Whisky production and aging takes pla ...
, the other major brand of Tennessee whiskey, produced by
Diageo PLC
Diageo plc () is a multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweichow Moutai of China in 201 ...
(introduced in 1964)
**
Jim Beam
Jim Beam is an American brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is one of the best-selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795 (interrupted by Prohibition in the United States, Prohibition), seven gene ...
, the largest-selling Kentucky bourbon whiskey, produced by
Beam Suntory
Beam Suntory, Inc. is an American-founded, Japanese multinational company that produces alcoholic beverages. It is a subsidiary of Suntory, based in Osaka, Japan.
It is the third largest producer of distilled beverages worldwide, behind Diageo ...
(introduced in 1933)
**
Evan Williams, another high-selling brand of Kentucky bourbon whiskey, produced by
Heaven Hill
Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. is a private, American family-owned and operated distillery founded in 1935 and headquartered in Bardstown, Kentucky, that produces and markets the Heaven Hill brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and a varie ...
(introduced in 1957)
* Sister brands produced by Brown–Forman
**
Old Forester
Old Forester is a brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced by the Brown–Forman Corporation. It has been on the market continuously for longer than any other bourbon (approximately 150 years as of 2020), and was the first bourbon so ...
, a historically important brand of Kentucky bourbon whiskey (introduced in 1870)
**
Woodford Reserve
Woodford Reserve is a brand of premium small batch Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced in Woodford County, Kentucky, by the Brown-Forman Corporation. It is made from a mixture of copper pot still spirits produced at the company's Wood ...
, a newer premium brand of Kentucky bourbon whiskey (introduced in 1996)
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{Coord, 35, 17, 6, N, 86, 22, 5, W, type:landmark, display=title
1866 establishments in Tennessee
American brands
Brown–Forman brands
Tennessee cuisine
Distilleries in Tennessee
Lynchburg, Tennessee
Moore County, Tennessee
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee
Tourist attractions in Tennessee
Tourist attractions in Moore County, Tennessee
National Register of Historic Places in Moore County, Tennessee
Tennessee whiskey