Who's up for a 'Jack and Coke' ?? We had a great tour through the distillery in Lynchburg Tennessee. The original distillery which opened in 1866 and is celebrating it's 150th anniversary this year.
As we walked on to the property we commented on how pretty it looked. From the road no one would even know it was a distillery!
Jack Daniel's is a brand of Tennessee whiskey and the top selling American whiskey in the world. It is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee, by the Jack Daniel Distillery, which has been owned by the Brown-Forman Corporation since 1956. I found it interesting that despite being the location of a major operational distillery, Jack Daniel's home county of Moore is a dry county, so the product is not available for consumption at stores or restaurants within the county.(Wikipedia) Part of the tour though does include tasting the various flavors of Jack ... yyymmmyy good!! My favorite was Tennessee Honey, but more on that later ☺
Here is the Statue of Jack Daniel in front of the subterranean fresh water spring from whence he once drew the water for producing his whiskey.
I don't know if you can tell in this photo but this is the cleanest spring I've seen in a long time!
The Rickyard is the first stop of the tour. This is where they make charcoal from maple ricks, which is later used for filtering the moonshine. The moonshine is filtered through ten feet of charcoal, which is a way of mellowing the whiskey. Gentleman Jack is actually filtered twice. Once before going into the barrel, which is standard practice. But also once after it has matured in barrels. This time however, only through three feet of charcoal. There’s a panel of tasters and they decide when the charcoal is tired and needs to be replaced. Usually that’s after around six months.
Jack Daniel's is made with the water from Cave Hollow Spring which flows at a constant rate of 800 gallons per minute. The temperature is constant at 56 degrees. It is also virtually iron-free.
The whisky is made using corn (80%), rye (12%) and barley (8%). A small amount of sour mash is also used, sourced from an earlier batch.
The whisky is then charcoal mellowed. This process involves dripping the whisky through 10-feet of sugar maple charcoal. Doing this adds significantly to the taste of the drink. It is also what makes Jack Daniel's different. It is not a bourbon whisky but a Tennessee whisky because of this process. We were not permitted to take photos in the mash and mellowing rooms but here are some 'snaps' we could get.
There are several buildings on the property that are used to complete the distilling process. This is where the mash is cooked and then it goes to 'Melllowing'.
All of the buildings have this gray coloring. It is called Baudoinia-compniacensis, a unique whiskey fungus, found near distilleries. This fungus attaches to warehouses and walkways at the 147-year-old distillery. This particular type of black fungus is common near distilleries because it uses ethanol as a source of energy for growth. During the whiskey maturation process, at least 2% of whiskey escapes from a barrel as ethanol vapor — perfect for Baudoinia to thrive.
The charcoal mellowed whisky is then put into barrels that were made to exacting standards by the Jack Daniel's Distillery itself. It almost takes as much time and effort to make the barrels as it does the whisky. The barrels are made from white oak. Craftsmen fit the stave's together by hand then toast and char the inside of the barrels. The different char levels create the various flavors of the whisky. The charring brings out the natural sugar in the wood. The barrels are only used once. The used ones are sold, mainly to European distilleries to mature Scottish and Irish whiskies.
Tools of old but some are still used by the Craftsmen today.
The Jack Daniel's Distillery says "age isn't the same thing as maturity". That means, for Jack Daniel's whisky, it is not about how long the bourbon whisky stays in the barrel. It is about the process of getting it there and the experience it has in the barrel. A calendar is not used at Jack Daniel's to decide if a whisky is ready for bottling. They do that by tasting it - probably the best job in the world..
Next is the bottling, labeling and tasting!
The Barrel House is where some of the aging barrels of whisky are stored. But mostly it is where the tasting of the whisky takes place! We tasted Gentleman Jack, Old No.7, Single Barrel, Tennessee Fire and my favorite Tennessee Honey. All excellent!!
There are many storage warehouses scattered around the distillery and they are building more all the time.
I vote yes for Jack Daniels from1866 to 2016!
You might have notice that I've been away for awhile. When you get my next chapter you will see just what we've been up to and where we've been spending our time!
More soon 🌷🌷🐾🐾
Jan
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