Jack Daniels whiskey: history, how it is made, interesting facts, types + how to distinguish a fake
Jack Daniel's - in fact, a real bourbon, but the famous manufacturer from Lynchburg (Tennessee) insists on whiskey in its classification.
It is the most famous and best-selling American whiskey in the world.
Due to the unique water and technological processes, whiskey of this brand is so popular for many alcohol connoisseurs.
History of Jack Daniels whiskey
1875: After inheriting property from his father, Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel founded a legally registered distilling business with his partner Dan Call, who, by the way, introduced Daniels to the moonshine business as a teenager.
Soon after, when Dan Call left the business for religious reasons, Daniel took over the entire enterprise.
1880: Jack Daniel's owns 15 distilleries.
1897: The first square bottles of Jack Daniel's went on sale.
1904: Jack Daniel's gained popularity after receiving a gold medal for the best whiskey at the World's Fair in St. Louis.
1907: Due to health problems, Jack Daniels passed the distillery to his two nephews.
Motlow soon bought out another nephew's share and worked in the company for about 40 years.
1910: Tennessee passed a law banning the sale of alcohol throughout the state, which effectively banned the legal distribution of Jack Daniels.
Due to prohibition in Tennessee, the company moved its distilling processes to St. Louis, Missouri, and Birmingham, Alabama. Not a single bottle from these locations was sold due to quality issues.
After a while, the facilities in Alabama were shut down in accordance with a similar prohibition law in that state, and the St. Louis branch suffered the same fate, but due to the introduction of a nationwide ban on the sale of alcohol in 1920.
1911: Founder of the brand Jack Daniels dies of blood poisoning.
The story that is often told is that the infection started on one of his toes, which Daniels injured early in the morning at work while kicking his safe in anger when he couldn't open it (it was said that he always had trouble remembering the combination)...
But Daniel's contemporary biographer claims that this account is not true.
1938: Motlow became a Tennessee state senator and lobbied for the resumption of Jack Daniels whiskey production in his native Lynchburg.
1942 - 1946: Due to the Second World War, the Jack Daniel's distillery ceased to operate.
1947: Motlow passed away, leaving the company to his children in his will: Robert, Ragor, Dan, Conner and Mary.
The company was later incorporated as "Jack Daniel Distillery, Lem Motlow, Prop., Inc.".
This allowed the brand to continue to include Lem Motlow, who died in 1947, in its marketing. Similarly, advertisements continue to use the population of Lynchburg as it was in the 1960s - 361 people, although the city has grown significantly since then.
According to the 2010 census, the official population of Lynchburg is over 6000 people.
1956: The company was sold to Brown-Forman Corporation.
1972: The Jack Daniels Distillery was included in the National Register of Historic Places.
Until 1987: Jack Daniel's Black Label was produced with a strength of 45%, and Green Label 40%.
2006 - 2015: The company sponsors the V8 Supercar teams Perkins Engineering and Kelly Racing.
Jack Daniels also sponsored the Richard Childress Racing 07 car (symbolically in honor of the Old No. 7") in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series from 2005 to 2009.
2019 - today: The company expands its presence in emerging markets, delighting old and new customers with its impeccable quality and history.
How Jack Daniels whiskey is made
The source of the Jack Daniels distillery provides 3000 liters of pure fresh water per minute, then it is filtered through limestone.
It is important that the water does not contain iron, because even a small amount of iron gives whiskey an unpleasant metallic flavor.
But for the production of whiskey, pure spring water is only the beginning, to make alcohol you also need grain, the combination of different grains affects the taste and aroma of whiskey.
Monument to the founder of whiskey Jack Daniels at the entrance to the cave with the spring.
How it works:
80% is corn - gives the whiskey a sweet taste.
12% is barley malt - it creates the golden hue of the drink.
Rye is also needed, it has a sharp, bright flavor that adds a slight piquancy to whiskey.
Corn, barley malt and rye are mixed with spring water and heated. After a few hours, the enzymes will break down the corn starch and turn it into sugar.
Then, in 150000 liter fermenters, the sweet liquid is mixed with the residues from the previous fermentation and left for some time.
Soon, yeast begins to absorb sugar, which releases alcohol and carbon dioxide.Jack Daniels Distillery uses yeast that they have had since the early 30s.
Since the yeast from the previous fermentation is constantly used, the recipe always remains the same. The only problem is that over time, yeast changes and this can affect the taste, to prevent this from happening, there are yeast samples frozen at minus 125 degrees. Samples are hidden from prying eyes in secret places.
After 6 days, most of the sugar is converted into alcohol. Now this mass is not sweet, but sour, so it is called "sour mash" whiskey. Part of the mash will remain until the next fermentation, and the grain cake is sent for cattle feed.
The remaining liquid is not yet whiskey, it is called mash. To turn a weak mash into a strong whiskey, you need to separate alcohol from water. At first, the mash is heated without boiling, then it goes to the distillation apparatus, where it turns into a pure liquid.
In the end, 67% alcohol is obtained, it is called green whiskey and tastes just awful.
Then green whiskey is filtered, for this purpose charcoal is used, but not any charcoal is suitable to give the whiskey a unique taste. For this purpose, sugar maple wood is used, maple syrup is made from it, the tree is cut down in the fall, when the sap content is minimal, then the trunks are stacked in two-meter piles and left to dry for a whole year.
To turn wood into charcoal, it must be set on fire; if it is poured with gasoline, it is unlikely that the whiskey will be drinkable afterwards, so it is poured with raw whiskey, which quickly burns. But it can't burn for too long, otherwise the wood will turn to ash, so after a few hours the coal miners douse the fire with spring water.
When the charcoal cools down, it is collected and sent to barrels for filtration, green whiskey is poured on top and waited for it to seep through the charcoal, which takes about 10 days.
When all the whiskey passes through the charcoal, it acquires a mild and smoky flavor. But the filtered whiskey is still pure and lacks the signature flavor, so new American oak barrels are needed for this. They are burned from the inside to harden the wood sugar, which then reacts with the alcohol and gives the whiskey color and flavor.
Workers fill nearly 500 barrels per hour, each of which holds about 200 liters of whiskey, then seal the barrels, load them into trucks and take them to the warehouse.
According to the law, any American whiskey must be aged for at least 2 years, but Jack Daniels whiskey is aged for at least 4 years.
After aging, the drink is not bottled until it receives approval from the distillery's master taster: "I need an aged whiskey of brown or amber color, closer to red.".
Interesting facts about Jack Daniels whiskey
Huge volumes of
In 2017, 12.5 million bottles of Black Label were sold.
Marketing ploy
The whiskey's trademark reads "Est. & Reg. 1866", but the business was officially registered only in 1875.
Old No. 7
Whiskey brand Old No. 7" appeared thanks to one of the Jack Daniel's distilleries, which was granted a state license under this number.
The bachelor life of the founder
Jack Daniel (the founder of the brand) has never been married and had no children. He took his nephews under his wing - one of whom was Lemuel "Lem" Motlow (1869-1947).
A ban on alcohol sales is not a ban on production
In Moore County, where Jack Daniels whiskey is produced, it is forbidden to sell any alcohol by law, but the city of Lynchburg itself allows the sale of beer, wine and spirits on all days except Sunday.
You can buy spirits from 8:00 to 11:00, and beer and wine from 6:00 to midnight.
There are at least three levels of barrels in each Jack Daniels warehouse
And the largest warehouse has 7 floors, so 20,000 barrels of whiskey can fit there, and this is just one of 74 warehouses, enough for a lifetime!
Types of Jack Daniels whiskey
Old No. 7
In two forty-degree versions (Black Label and the less common Green Label), it is an ordinary drink with a sweet caramel-vanilla flavor and a characteristic smoky smell.
Recommended for use in mixes and cocktails (for example, with apple juice or cola). Although, if you're a real cowboy, you don't have to dilute it.
Tennessee Rye
70% rye, 100% Jack. Rye whiskey according to a modern recipe, has a soft and sweet taste combined with a rich bouquet that reveals aromas of oak, spicy vanilla, caramel, mocha coffee, tobacco, ripe bananas and gingerbread.
Gentleman Jack
Forty-degree representative of the brand. Undergoes double charcoal filtration: before being placed in barrels and before blending.
As a result, the taste of the drink is more balanced and the aftertaste is softer.
Drink neat at a serving temperature of 18-21°C.
Single Barrel
Double-filtered single malt digestif with an aging period of 6 years or more.
This is a 47-degree dark amber aristocrat from the Jack Daniels house, the taste and aroma of which is distinguished by a pronounced personality.
Along with the classic smoke-vanilla-caramel set, shades of toffee, ripe fruit and exotic spices are guessed here.
Tennessee Fire
The author's 35-degree liqueur based on Old NO. 7. This time, with the addition of cinnamon essence.
The drink works on contrasts. At first, it gives the impression of a soft, sweet cinnamon-vanilla-caramel idyll, then it stuns with a wave of fiery strength.
The product was launched in 2015. Т.к., in fact, it is a cocktail in itself, it does not need to be diluted with anything. Although, many Americans can't resist the temptation to splash some Coke in there.
Tennessee Honey
A 35-degree dessert drink, which includes a special honey liqueur and classic OLD NO. 7.
The result is a fairly strong blend with honey notes in the taste and aroma, as well as a rather mild aftertaste.
The drink is recommended for consumption neat from tulip-shaped glasses at a serving temperature of 18-21°C. A small organic sediment is allowed in the bottle.
In addition, small batches of collectible and semi-collectible blends are periodically produced to mark a significant event.
How to distinguish a fake Jack Daniels
The real Jack Daniels has:
The label, which covers three sides of the vessel, is neatly glued on, well executed and contains no grammatical errors, the label.
A distinctive plastic stopper and an impeccable excise stamp.
Alcohol is not characterized by the presence of the slightest sediment or cloudiness, as well as high (30% plus) promotional discounts.
It is recommended to shake the contents of the bottle. As a result, if you are dealing with a real drink, easily visible air bubbles will appear on the surface of the liquid.
The original Jack Daniels is bottled in sturdy square containers with smooth, unblemished edges, legible inscriptions engraved on the shoulders, and a perfectly square bottom with well-defined corners.
The neck of the vessel should also be faceted and have a convex ring at the base (by the way, the level of the drink should be slightly higher than the level of this ring).
The cork should be carefully tightened with a perforated plastic film containing the name of the type of drink on the front and the inscription "Tennessee WHISKEY" on the back.
Update: 12.06.2019
Category: Whiskey and Bourbon