FACTS
Jack Daniel (Jasper Newton Daniel) was born in 1846 and was the youngest of 10 children. He ran away from home and was orphaned at a young age before being taken in by Dan Call who was a preacher and moonshine distiller. Daniel learned the distilling trade from Call and his master distiller, Nathan 'Nearest' Green, and in 1875, after receiving an inheritance from his biological father's estate, Daniel founded a legally registered distilling business with Call. In 1884, after taking over the distillery entirely from Call, Daniel purchased the land where the distillery is now located in Lynchburg, Tennessee. The famous square-shaped bottle was first used in 1897 and the whiskey saw a surge in popularity in 1904, after winning a gold medal for the finest whiskey at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Daniel later took his nephew, Lemuel 'Lem' Motlow under his wing. He was at first responsible for the distillery's bookkeeping but in 1907, after Daniel retired due to ill health, he bought out all other owners of the distillery and operated it for the next forty years. Jack Daniel died in 1911. In 1910, the legal distillation of Jack Daniel's was prohibited in Tennessee and production only restarted in 1938 following a string of problems, including prohibition. The distillery, once again, ceased operations from 1942-1946, due to World War II, and Motlow died the same year they resumed production, in 1947. He bequeathed the distillery to his five children. The company was sold to the Brown-Forman Corporation in 1956 and in 1972, the distillery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The mash for Jack Daniel's Whiskey is made from corn, rye, and malted barley. The distillery follows the Lincoln County Process, whereby the new make spirit is filtered through 10 foot tall stacks of sugar maple charcoal, a process the distillery calls 'mellowing'. The whiskey is also labelled as 'sour mash' which means that when the mash is prepared, some of the solids from a previous batch are mixed in to help make the fermentation process operate more consistently. Used Jack Daniel's barrels are shipped off to Glenmorangie to age their whisky, Mount Gay and Appleton Estate to age their rum and to McIlhenny Company for production of Tabasco Hot Sauce. Jack Daniel's distillery bottles a varierty of whiskies from their original Old No.7 Black Label, the lighter-bodied Green Label, Gentleman Jack which is twice charcoal filtered, and a number of single barrel whiskies, to annual holiday releases, tribute bottlings such as the Sinatra, and whiskey liqueurs such as Tennessee Honey and Tennessee Fire.
Whisky/ Year: Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Rye (2017)
Whisky Type: Tennessee Rye Whiskey
Distillery/Owner: The Jack Daniel's Distillery (Brown-Forman Corporation)
Country/Region: United States of America (Tennessee)
Cask Type: New, Charred American Oak Barrel
Age: NAS (~4 years old)
ABV: 45%
Chill Filtration: Probably
Natural Colour: Yes
Price: R1000 / $66 / £55
TASTING NOTES
Colour:
Chestnut / Russet
Nose:
The nose is very gentle with no alcohol burn. It's sweet and spicy with thick butterscotch and loads of vanilla essence, leading to light nutmeg and cinnamon notes. It's lightly fruity with a sweet lemon tang. There's also a strong cereal note, reminiscent of beer
Palate:
On the palate, there's an upfront spicy zing with a rich, perfumed note like senties jelly candies. There's vanilla and a woodiness as well, followed by fruit notes, mainly peach, and maraschino cherry
Finish:
The finish is long and becomes quite drying. The sweetness lingers leading to a distinct coconut note
P.S.
There are not many rye whiskies available in South Africa so when I had the chance to taste this, I took it. It's an interesting whiskey being the distillery's first new mashbill in over 150 years and consists of 70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley. It's not as spicy as some other rye's I've tasted but the combination of the lemonade on the nose, the cherry on the palate, and the coconut on the finish is certainly one I enjoyed. It's not as full-flavoured as the single barrel select but if the price was a little better, I'd certainly buy a bottle for my home bar.
SCORE: 7/10
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