Jack Daniel's Whiskey
Have you drunken Jack Daniel's Whiskey which is one of the famous whiskeys in the world? In addition, do you know that the Jack Daniel's whiskey is made in Tennessee? Actually, I didn’t know that Jack Daniel’s whisky is Tennessee’s product, although I sometimes drank Jack Daniel’s whiskey in Japan. I got to know about Jack Daniel’s Whiskey when I just looked for the sightseeing places in Nashville. On a certain day, Dr. Auer who is the director of the center for US-Japan relationship and studies in VIPPS recommended me the visit to the distillery. So, I went to Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee last month.
Jack Daniel Distillery is located in Lynchburg where I can reach in one and a half hour by car. Lynchburg is leafy suburb and I could enjoy driving on the way to there. Jack Daniel Distillery gives tour for visitors and I attended the tour with my Japanese friends. On the tour, the tour guide explained about basic knowledge of whiskey, the history of Jack Daniel Distillery, the process of manufacture and so on. One of the most interesting explanations is that Jack Daniel Distillery is located in a dry county in spite of the distillery. Do you know the meaning of a dry county? In a dry county, people are prohibited to sell alcoholic. Jack Daniel Distillery is making in the county where people are prohibited to sell alcoholic. It was interesting to me.
If you want to know about Jack Daniel’s whiskey, you can learn a lot on their web site (http://www.jackdaniels.com/). In this journal, I want to introduce you about two kinds of Jack Daniel’s whiskeys. One is the whiskey named “Gentleman Jack” and another is the whiskey named “Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel”. These two are my recommendation. To tell the difference of these two whiskeys, there are two differences in the process of manufacture.
First difference is the number of times of charcoal-mellowing. Charcoal-mellowing is the process which involves slowly dripping the newly made whiskey through giant containers hard-packed with 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal. The process takes ten days, and during this time the whiskey absorbs the essence of the charcoal, refining the spirit and giving it a unique flavor and aroma. “Gentleman Jack” goes through this process twice, although other kinds of whiskeys including “Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel” go through this process once. It makes “Gentleman Jack” smoother than others.
Second difference is the bottling way. After charcoal mellowing, all whiskeys are placed into new, charred, white oak barrels for aging. The passing seasons cause temperatures to change, and the barrels to expand and contract, forcing the whiskey in and out of the wood. After this process the whiskey become ready to be bottled, ordinary whiskey including “Gentleman Jack” are put together from barrels and placed into bottles. Unlike ordinary whiskeys, “Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel” is not put together. “Single Barrel” is bottled from one barrel. That’s because they want drinkers to enjoy the unique aroma and taste of each barrels. In addition, “Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel” has 47% alcoholicity (“Gentleman Jack” has 40% alcoholicity.).
These two kinds of whiskeys are very nice and have worth to drink at least once. I recommend you to go to liquor store and buy these two. By the way, my best recommendation is “Gentleman Jack”, because I want to be a gentleman like Jack Daniel.
Jack Daniel Distillery is located in Lynchburg where I can reach in one and a half hour by car. Lynchburg is leafy suburb and I could enjoy driving on the way to there. Jack Daniel Distillery gives tour for visitors and I attended the tour with my Japanese friends. On the tour, the tour guide explained about basic knowledge of whiskey, the history of Jack Daniel Distillery, the process of manufacture and so on. One of the most interesting explanations is that Jack Daniel Distillery is located in a dry county in spite of the distillery. Do you know the meaning of a dry county? In a dry county, people are prohibited to sell alcoholic. Jack Daniel Distillery is making in the county where people are prohibited to sell alcoholic. It was interesting to me.
If you want to know about Jack Daniel’s whiskey, you can learn a lot on their web site (http://www.jackdaniels.com/). In this journal, I want to introduce you about two kinds of Jack Daniel’s whiskeys. One is the whiskey named “Gentleman Jack” and another is the whiskey named “Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel”. These two are my recommendation. To tell the difference of these two whiskeys, there are two differences in the process of manufacture.
First difference is the number of times of charcoal-mellowing. Charcoal-mellowing is the process which involves slowly dripping the newly made whiskey through giant containers hard-packed with 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal. The process takes ten days, and during this time the whiskey absorbs the essence of the charcoal, refining the spirit and giving it a unique flavor and aroma. “Gentleman Jack” goes through this process twice, although other kinds of whiskeys including “Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel” go through this process once. It makes “Gentleman Jack” smoother than others.
Second difference is the bottling way. After charcoal mellowing, all whiskeys are placed into new, charred, white oak barrels for aging. The passing seasons cause temperatures to change, and the barrels to expand and contract, forcing the whiskey in and out of the wood. After this process the whiskey become ready to be bottled, ordinary whiskey including “Gentleman Jack” are put together from barrels and placed into bottles. Unlike ordinary whiskeys, “Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel” is not put together. “Single Barrel” is bottled from one barrel. That’s because they want drinkers to enjoy the unique aroma and taste of each barrels. In addition, “Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel” has 47% alcoholicity (“Gentleman Jack” has 40% alcoholicity.).
These two kinds of whiskeys are very nice and have worth to drink at least once. I recommend you to go to liquor store and buy these two. By the way, my best recommendation is “Gentleman Jack”, because I want to be a gentleman like Jack Daniel.
posted by keisuke at Saturday, September 16, 2006
1 Comments:
Ishii-san, thanks for the informative article. Your article reminds me of "Nikka Whiskey" which is the first Japanese whiskey brand. When I was in Japan last July, I visited Nikka Whiskey distillery in 東北. Nikka whiskey tastes great but I regret I didn't buy it there. If I visit Jack Daniel distillery, I'll buy some.
By the way, you can drink "Beast Jack" (if there is), because you ARE a gentleman.
~SJ
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