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Jack Daniel's Honey Liqueur: Here and now

By Miguel at 2013 Feb,23 in Tasting , Jack Daniel

After tasting a very nice Glenfiddich Malt Liqueur I decided I have to taste something else… and searching around in my samples’ box I found this Jack Daniel’s Honey Liqueur that is one of the best selling ( at least for the interest it raises on A Wardrobe of Whisky ) liqueurs.

I have been wanting to taste it for a while because lots ( and really mean lots ) of persons have asked me about it.

So let’s see how it is. I have really low expectations, considering that Jack Daniels is one of the best selling bourbons ( or Tennessee Whiskey as you prefer ) and it is one of the weakest bourbons I have tasted.

“Not bad at all ( if you think the base of this beverage is Jack Daniel's ) and/but it doesn't taste much of Jack Daniels. Sweet treat”

Long awaited in the UK and with a big following in the USA, this is Jack Daniel's honey and whisky liqueur.

A mix of regular Old No 7 and a spiced honey liqueur, it's got spice, sweetness, floral undertones and a long smooth finish. Drink over ice, chilled or even in a cup of coffee - it's rather tasty.

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (79): more than average. honey, spices, citrus, corn.

Palate (83): light, smooth. honey, spices, burnt sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, treacle.

Finish (82): average. honey, vanilla, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey Whiskey Liqueur with 81 points over 100.

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Miguel says…

Well, it isn’t that bad. Even if you consider that this is done using Jack Daniels. But what really won me of Glenfiddich Liqueur was that you can feel the honey and feel the Glenfiddich Malt whisky there.

But for £24 you can’t ask much more.

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Tasting Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey range: Nº7, Gentleman and Single Barrel

By Miguel at 2012 May,19 in Tasting , Jack Daniel

One of my readers asked me what I thought about Jack Daniel’s range. Eh! Wait, don’t reply yet. Let me write the article!

The answer was easy but I decided to take the hard way and actually taste the whiskey.

The short conclusion is that Jack Daniel’s whiskeys isn’t as bad as you think. Sponsored reply. Just joking, the stuff is a bit below the mean bourbon scores and slightly overpriced, but as I said whiskeys as the Jack Daniel’s Single barrel are in fact a nice experience.

Let’s see the range.

Jack Daniel's Tennesse Whiskey

“Not as bad as I remember. Blind tasting it I would have said that it was a fair bourbon with a weak nose.”

Perhaps America's best known whiskey, Jack Daniel's hails from Tennessee and it best known for its smooth flavor.

Jack Daniel's is always charcoal mellowed and aged in proprietary white oak barrels for a rich amber color, distinctive flavor and finish.

If you like this whiskey you definitively need to move up to something more interesting like Wild Turkey or Buffalo Trace

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (83): more than average. corn, spices, honey, floral, vanilla. Slightly alcoholic nose. Not unpleasant but it is there.

Palate (84): smooth, powerful. corn, wood, vanilla, honey, spices, citrus.

Finish (84): average. honey, corn, pepper.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Jack Daniel's Tennesse Whiskey with 84 points over 100.

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Gentleman Jack

“Slightly less powerful than Jack Daniel's. It is more fruity and spicy”

This is a softer, more round, Jack Daniel's whiskey, that is the direct result of charcoal-mellowing the whiskey twice, before and after the aging process.

It is more expensive that the standard Jack Daniel, so my suggestion is that if you love this, you should taste something like Blanton's Single Barrel

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (82): average. corn, vanilla, honey, pineapple, wood.

Palate (83): powerful, oily. corn, spices, honey, vanilla, pepper.

Finish (83): average. corn, spices, fruits.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Gentleman Jack with 83 points over 100.

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Jack Daniel's Single Barrel

“Without being a great bourbon, this whiskey is by far the best option in the Jack Daniel's range”

Jack Daniel's Single Barrel is always found in the upper most parts of the barrelhouse - they like to call this the 'Penthouse'. Because every barrel is different and in various locations in the barrel houses no two barrels are the same. Those barrels usually portrait the best and most intense flavors of toasted oak, vanilla and caramel.

This Jack Daniel's whiskey is a hell better than the standard Jack Daniels bottling but the price step is quite important to dismiss it. I recommend you to give a try to something like Buffalo Trace so you see what you are drinking.

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (85): more than average. corn, varnish, vanilla, honey, spices, pepper. More polished than the others two and slightly older.

Palate (87): powerful, oily. honey, corn, spices, citrus, vanilla, pepper, wood.

Finish (86): longer than average. corn, honey, vanilla.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Jack Daniel's Single Barrel with 86 points over 100.

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Gentleman Jack Tasting note

By Miguel at 2011 Mar,26 in Tasting , Jack Daniel

“Slightly less powerful than Jack Daniel's. It is more fruity and spicy”

This dram has a amber-like color.

Nose (82): average. corn, vanilla, honey, pineapple, wood.

Palate (83): powerful, oily. corn, spices, honey, vanilla, pepper.

Finish (83): average. corn, spices, fruits.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Gentleman Jack with 83 points over 100.

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Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Tasting note

By Miguel at 2011 Mar,25 in Tasting , Jack Daniel

This dram has a white-like color.

Nose (88): inexistent. sweet, corn, vanilla, honey, spices, some wood. First nosing data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Palate (88): . sweet, corn, honey, fruit, hot. Bouquet data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Finish (84): no finish. corn, sweet, floral. Finish length is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Jack Daniel's Single Barrel with 87 points over 100.

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Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey Tasting note

By Miguel at 2011 Mar,24 in Tasting , Jack Daniel

This dram has a white-like color.

Nose (84): inexistent. sweet, grain, alcohol, honey, far vanilla, wood. First nosing data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Palate (80): . sweet, corn, toffee, burnt, pop corn, vanilla, light. Bouquet data is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

Finish (76): no finish. alcohol, corn, burnt, wood. Finish length is innacurate as the previous tasting sheet lacked of this field.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Jack Daniel's Tennesse Whiskey with 80 points over 100.

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Jack Daniel's: Through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal

By Miguel at 2011 Mar,23 in Featured , Jack Daniel

One of the best Tennessee whiskey, and in fact there only two more. Its distinctive process is to filter the whiskey through charcoal to make it more mellow

The founder

According to the Jack Daniel’s website, founder Jasper Newton “Jack” Daniel was born in September 1846.
He might have become a licensed distiller at the age of 20, as the distillery claims a founding date of 1866. Daniel was one of thirteen children to Calaway Daniel and his mother Lucinda Cook. Jack Daniel’s grandfather, Joseph “Job” Daniel emigrated from Wales as did his Scottish wife to the United States. He was of Welsh, Scottish, English, and Scots-Irish descent.

Jack Daniel never married and did not have any children. However, he took his favorite nephew, Lem Motlow, under his wing. Lem was very skilled with numbers, and was soon doing all of the distillery’s bookkeeping. In 1907, due to failing health, Jack Daniel gave the distillery to Motlow, who then bequeathed the distillery to his children, Robert, Reagor, Dan, Conner, and Mary, upon his death in 1947.

The Prohibition

Tennessee passed a state-wide prohibition law in 1910, preventing the legal distillation of Jack Daniel’s in the state, and as a result Lem Motlow moved the distillery to St Louis, Missouri and Birmingham, Alabama, though none of the production from these locations was ever sold due to quality problems.

The introduction of prohibition in 1920 (until 1933) through the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution stopped production in St Louis; production in Alabama having been stopped earlier by that state’s prohibition laws. All production then ceased.

Even the Twenty-first Amendment enactment in 1933 repealing federal prohibition did not allow production in Lynchburg to restart, as the Tennessee state prohibition laws were still in effect. Motlow, as a Tennessee state senator, helped repeal these laws, allowing 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 U.S. government banned the manufacture of whiskey during World War II and a little beyond, from 1942 to 1946. Motlow resumed production of Jack Daniel’s only in 1947 after good quality corn was again available.

Facts

When the company was later incorporated, it was incorporated as “Jack Daniel Distillery, Lem Motlow, Prop., Inc.” This has allowed the company to continue to include Lem Motlow, who died in 1947, in its marketing, since mentioning him in the advertising is technically just citing the full corporate name. Likewise, the advertisements continue to say that Lynchburg has only 361 people, though the 2000 census reports 5,740. This is allowable because the entire label was trademarked in the early 1960s when this figure was the actual population cited by the Census Bureau; changing the label would require applying for a new trademark or forfeiting trademark protection. However, the census population includes all of Moore County, as the county and city governments are consolidated.

Moore County, where the Jack Daniel’s distillery is located, is one of the state’s many dry counties. Therefore, 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 and Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel at the distillery’s White Rabbit Bottle Shop.

Tennessee whiskey is filtered through sugar maple charcoal in large wooden vats prior to aging, unlike the process used to make Kentucky bourbon.
Tennessee whiskey is not bourbon whiskey, as defined by Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 1, Part 5, Section 5.22. However Tennessee whiskey is defined as a bourbon under terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Bottles from my collection

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Bourbon: Discover America's native spirit

By Miguel at 2011 Mar,08 in News , Featured , Buffalo Trace , Wild Turkey , Jim Beam , Elijah Craig , Jack Daniel , Heaven Hill , Bulleit

Bourbon is America’s native spirit. It is a type of american whiskey made mainly from corn. Its name derives from the historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon.

Origins

First settlers who brought whisky tradition to America were Scotch-Irish of Pennsylvania.

To help finance the revolution against the British, the Continental Congress put a tax on whiskey production. Western Pennsylvania settlers refused to pay and so George Washington to restore the order in the ensuing whisky rebellion sent an army to quell the uprising. Washington mobilized 13000 militia to deal with the uprising but the army dispersed before any conflict, failing to restore order so Washington decided to offer a deal to the stubborn scotch and irish settlers giving them incentives for those who would move to Kentucky.

This move changed the way whiskey was made, as rye wasn’t as abundant as corn. Bourbon was born.

Why corn was used in Bourbon?

The governor of Virginia (Kentucky was part of Virginia at that moment), Thomas Jefferson, offered pioneers sixty acres of land if they built a permanent structure and raise native corn. The fact that none can eat 60 acres worth of corn and that corn was too perishable and bulky to transport for sale helped the pioneers to decide converting it into whiskey solving both problems. This first corn-based whiskey was a clear distillate as it wasn’t aged in oak barrels yet.

Evolution of the drink

That whiskey were going to become bourbon because of two facts:

French help against the British

France, having at the time still their own territories in North America assisted rebels in war of Independence against the British. In acknowledge of this help french names were given to near settlements and counties. So between 1780 and 1786 west part of Virginia was divided and one of those parts was named Bourbon County after the french royal house. Kentucky become a state in 1792 and Bourbon one of its counties.

Ageing in oak casks

Reverend Elijah Craig from Bourbon County, legend says, used old barrels to transport his whiskey to market in New Orleans. He charred the barrels before filling, probably to remove traces of previous contents. After that, whiskey did a long trip to market where it gets a mellowed flavour and has taken on a light caramel color from the wood. Being from Bourbon Country his whiskey was soon started being called bourbon. The fact is that the same settlers that brought distillation to America would know that ageing whisky in a wood cask would make the drink better so perhaps this cool legend is just that, a legend.

It was in 1840 when it officially became known as Bourbon as previously was known as Bourbon County Whiskey or Old Bourbon County Whiskey.
Since 1870 Bourbon is shipped in jugs instead of barrels.

The Prohibition

In 1917 the production and the possession of alcoholic beverages was forbidden in wartime. After the end of the WWI maintained the law, being called dry states. In 1919 the law reached the whole country. The prohibition forbade all consumption of alcohol, even beer. ( Oh my God! ). The Volstead act became a constitutional amendment in 1920.
All supplies of alcohol were destroyed, the distilleries dismantled and used for other purposes and only a few were allowed to keep producing alcohol for medical purposes.

The prohibition destroyed most of american distilleries and create a strong smuggling system across North America borders, mostly from Canada and the Caribbean states. Realizing the prohibition was not able to stop alcohol consumption and that it was creating a huge criminal industry it was decided to legalize again alcohol in 1933 in the 21st amendment.

Congressional resolution

In 1964 a congressional resolution protected the term bourbon and since then has the product being defined.
The basic elements of Bourbon are that:

A minimum of two years old
Distilled under 160º proof, that’s 80% ABV
Made from a mash of 51% of corn.
Must age in charred new oak barrels

Although law stipulate that origin must be in the United States, 95% of Bourbon comes from Kentucky.

Kinds of bourbon

There are several kinds of bourbon, each of them usually stated in the label.

Mash influence

Different distillers vary the proportion of grains in the mash and the proof it is stored in the cask. Typical grain mixture, known as mash bill, is 70% corn and the remainder wheat, rye and malted barley. The use of a relative large percentage of wheat produces what is known as wheated bourbon. Originally distillation was done using alembic or pot stills but now modern distilleries uses continuous stills.

Kentucky bourbon

Kentucky Bourbon Trail attract visitors to six distilleries in Kentucky: Four Roses, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Wild Turkey and Woodford Reserve.
Nowadays bourbon’s production is concentrated in Louisville, Frankfurt and Bardstown.

Tennessee straight whiskey

Bourbon produced at Tennessee is typically refered to as Tennessee whiskey or sour mash whiskey.

Straight whiskey

Straight whiskey is whisky without any additives, as caramel *ejem*, created by distilling a fermented cereal grain mash to create a spirit not exceeding 80% alcohol content by volume (abv) and then aging the spirit for at least two years.
Filtering and dilution with water, while retaining at least a 40% abv concentration, are the only allowed modifications for straight whiskey prior to its bottling – the addition of caramel and other colorings and flavorings is not allowed.
American straight whiskey must be aged in charred new oak barrels and must be put into the barrels for aging at a concentration not exceeding 62.5% abv.