Jack Daniel's
Encyclopedia
Jack Daniel's is a brand of sour mash
Tennessee whiskey
that is among the world's best-selling liquors. It is known for its square bottles and black label. As of November, 2007, one blogger was claiming that it was the best-selling 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. 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, although the distillery does sell commemorative bottles of whiskey.
Although the product generally meets the regulatory criteria for classification as a straight
bourbon
, the company disavows this classification and markets it simply as Tennessee whiskey rather than as Tennessee bourbon
.
was born in September 1846, although seemingly no one knows the exact date because the birth records were destroyed in a courthouse
fire. If the 1846 date is correct, he might have become a licensed distiller at the age of 20, as the distillery claims a founding date of 1866. Other records list his birth date as September 5, 1846, and in the 2004 biography Blood & Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel, author Peter Krass maintains that land
and deed
records show that the distillery was actually not founded until 1875. Daniel was one of thirteen children to Calaway Daniel and 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 died in 1911 from blood poisoning which started from an infection. The infection allegedly began in one of his toes, which Daniel injured one early morning at work by kicking his safe in anger when he could not get it open (he was said to always have had trouble remembering the combination).
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.
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 began distilling operations in 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.
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 trademark
ed 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
, Jack Daniel's Single Barrel
, the original No. 7 blend (in a commemorative bottle), and a seasonal blend (on rotation) at the distillery's White Rabbit Bottle Shop.
Jack Daniel's whiskey is filtered through sugar maple charcoal
in large wooden vats prior to aging, which is an extra step that is not used in making most Bourbon whiskey
, and the company claims that this makes the product different than Bourbon. However, Tennessee whiskey is required to be "a straight Bourbon Whiskey" under terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement
, and Canadian law, and there is no other legal definition of the term "Tennessee whiskey" (other than U.S. law governing the definition of "whiskey" in general).
by volume), and the company's website states "This is the old-time whiskey made as our fathers made it. Remaining true to Jack Daniel's original recipe and charcoal-mellowed character means folks today enjoy the same sipping whiskey awarded seven international gold medals." Nonetheless, in October 2004, it was announced that all generally-available Jack Daniel's products would thenceforth be bottled at 80 proof. However, a one-time limited run of 96 proof, the highest proof Jack Daniel's ever bottled, was bottled for the 1996 Tennessee Bicentennial in a decorative bicentennial bottle.
The reason stated for this was that the distillery's marketing had found that customers preferred a lower proof whiskey (although the distillery debuted their 94 proof "Jack Daniel's Single Barrel" in February 1997); this also simplified the production process. This reduction in alcohol content was condemned by Modern Drunkard Magazine
and a petition was formed for drinkers who disagreed with the change.
Previously, the famous black-label brand (the better-quality, higher-priced product) had been 86 proof, where legal, while the lower-end green label was 80 proof. This was the second reduction in alcohol content since the Brown-Forman Corporation bought the distillery in 1956. They had previously reduced the alcohol content from bottling the black-label product at 90 proof and the green-label product at 86. Both were made from the same ingredients; the difference was determined by professional tasters, who determined which of the batches would be sold under the higher-priced black label, the rest being sold under the green label. After the lowering of the black label bottles to 80 proof, there is no longer a difference between the proof level of the black and green label bottles.
series, which continued until the end of 2008. From 2009 their sponsorship moved to the newly formed Kelly Racing
team, formed from the remnants of Perkins Engineering and now defunct HSV Dealer Team. Jack Daniel's also sponsored the Richard Childress Racing
07 car (numbered after the "Old No. 7") in the NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series from 2005 to 2009.
, held the position for 20 years. Bedford retired in mid-2008 after being the subject of a $3.5 million sexual harassment lawsuit against the company that ended in an out-of-court settlement, and he died on August 7, 2009 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Lynchburg. Jack Daniel himself was the first to take care of these duties.
" (also known as "J.D. and Coke"), a common cocktail
.
Jack Daniel's is also the alcoholic component of "Lynchburg Lemonade
".
Sour mash
Sour mash is a process in the distilling industry that uses material from an older batch of mash to start fermentation in the batch currently being made, analogous to the making of sourdough bread. The term sour mash can also be used as the name of the type of mash used in that process, and a...
Tennessee whiskey
Tennessee whiskey
Tennessee whiskey is Straight Bourbon Whiskey produced in the state of Tennessee. This definition is legally established under the North American Free Trade Agreement and at least one other international trade agreement that require that Tennessee whiskey be "a straight Bourbon Whiskey authorized...
that is among the world's best-selling liquors. It is known for its square bottles and black label. As of November, 2007, one blogger was claiming that it was the best-selling whiskey in the world. It is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee
Lynchburg, Tennessee
Lynchburg is a city in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is governed by a consolidated city-county government unit whose boundaries coincide with those of Moore County. Lynchburg is best known as the location of the Jack Daniel's distillery, whose famous whiskey is...
by the Jack Daniel Distillery, which has been owned by the Brown-Forman Corporation
Brown-Forman Corporation
The Brown-Forman Corporation is one of the largest American-owned companies in the spirits and wine business.Some well-known brands of the corporation include Jack Daniel's, Southern Comfort, Finlandia Vodka, Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Canadian Mist, Early Times, Old Forester, and Korbel champagne.-...
since 1956. Despite being the location of a major operational distillery, Jack Daniel's home county of Moore is a dry county
Dry county
A dry county is a county in the United States whose government forbids the sale of alcoholic beverages. Some prohibit off-premises sale, some prohibit on-premises sale, and some prohibit both. Hundreds of dry counties exist across the United States, almost all of them in the South...
, so the product is not available for consumption at stores or restaurants within the county, although the distillery does sell commemorative bottles of whiskey.
Although the product generally meets the regulatory criteria for classification as a straight
Straight whiskey
Straight whiskey is whisky created by distilling a fermented cereal grain mash to create a spirit not exceeding 80% alcohol content by volume and then aging the spirit for at least two years at an abv concentration not exceeding 62.5% at the start of the aging process.Filtering and dilution...
bourbon
Bourbon whiskey
Bourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
, the company disavows this classification and markets it simply as Tennessee whiskey rather than as Tennessee bourbon
Bourbon whiskey
Bourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
.
Early history
According to the Jack Daniel's website, founder Jasper Newton "Jack" DanielJack Daniel
Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel was an American distiller and the founder of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distillery.-Biography:...
was born in September 1846, although seemingly no one knows the exact date because the birth records were destroyed in a courthouse
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
fire. If the 1846 date is correct, he might have become a licensed distiller at the age of 20, as the distillery claims a founding date of 1866. Other records list his birth date as September 5, 1846, and in the 2004 biography Blood & Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel, author Peter Krass maintains that land
Land registration
Land registration generally describes systems by which matters concerning ownership, possession or other rights in land can be recorded to provide evidence of title, facilitate transactions and to prevent unlawful disposal...
and deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
records show that the distillery was actually not founded until 1875. Daniel was one of thirteen children to Calaway Daniel and Lucinda Cook. Jack Daniel's grandfather, Joseph "Job" Daniel emigrated from Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
as did his Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
wife to the United States. He was of Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
, Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
, English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, and Scots-Irish descent.
Jack died in 1911 from blood poisoning which started from an infection. The infection allegedly began in one of his toes, which Daniel injured one early morning at work by kicking his safe in anger when he could not get it open (he was said to always have had trouble remembering the combination).
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.
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 began distilling operations in St Louis, Missouri and Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, though none of the production from these locations was ever sold due to quality problems. The introduction of prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
in 1920 (until 1933) through the Eighteenth Amendment
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...
to the Constitution stopped production in St Louis; production in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
having been stopped earlier by that state's prohibition laws. All production then ceased. Even the Twenty-first Amendment
Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which had mandated nationwide Prohibition...
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
Tennessee Senate
The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the Tennessee state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.The Tennessee Senate, according to the state constitution of 1870, is composed of 33 members, one-third the size of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Senators...
, 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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
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.
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
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
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 trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
ed 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
Consolidated city-county
In United States local government, a consolidated city–county is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation, and a county, which is an administrative division of a state...
. 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
Gentleman Jack
Gentleman Jack is a brand of Tennessee whiskey produced by the Jack Daniel Distillery. It was introduced to the American market in 1988 as a "superpremium" brand, a step above the company's regular Jack Daniel's, which is a premium brand....
, Jack Daniel's Single Barrel
Jack Daniel's Single Barrel
Jack Daniel's Single Barrel is a Tennessee Whiskey, that uses the Lincoln County Process. It's also a sour mash with a bill consisting of corn, barley and rye...
, the original No. 7 blend (in a commemorative bottle), and a seasonal blend (on rotation) at the distillery's White Rabbit Bottle Shop.
Jack Daniel's whiskey is filtered through sugar maple charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
in large wooden vats prior to aging, which is an extra step that is not used in making most Bourbon whiskey
Bourbon whiskey
Bourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
, and the company claims that this makes the product different than Bourbon. However, Tennessee whiskey is required to be "a straight Bourbon Whiskey" under terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...
, and Canadian law, and there is no other legal definition of the term "Tennessee whiskey" (other than U.S. law governing the definition of "whiskey" in general).
Tennessee Squires
A Tennessee Squire is a member of the Tennessee Squire Association, which was formed in 1956 to honor special friends of the Jack Daniel's distillery. Many prominent business and entertainment professionals are included among the membership, which is obtained only through recommendation of a current member. Squires receive a wallet card and deed certificate proclaiming them as "owner" of an unrecorded plot of land at the distillery and an honorary citizen of Moore County, Tennessee.Lowering to 80 proof
Jack Daniel's historically has been produced at 90 U.S. proof (45% alcoholAlcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
by volume), and the company's website states "This is the old-time whiskey made as our fathers made it. Remaining true to Jack Daniel's original recipe and charcoal-mellowed character means folks today enjoy the same sipping whiskey awarded seven international gold medals." Nonetheless, in October 2004, it was announced that all generally-available Jack Daniel's products would thenceforth be bottled at 80 proof. However, a one-time limited run of 96 proof, the highest proof Jack Daniel's ever bottled, was bottled for the 1996 Tennessee Bicentennial in a decorative bicentennial bottle.
The reason stated for this was that the distillery's marketing had found that customers preferred a lower proof whiskey (although the distillery debuted their 94 proof "Jack Daniel's Single Barrel" in February 1997); this also simplified the production process. This reduction in alcohol content was condemned by Modern Drunkard Magazine
Modern Drunkard Magazine
Modern Drunkard Magazine is a sporadically released glossy color periodical promoting the "functional alcoholic's" lifestyle. Created in 1996, it has slowly gained notoriety, and currently enjoys a circulation of roughly 50,000. The magazine's creator, Frank Kelly Rich, is also listed as the...
and a petition was formed for drinkers who disagreed with the change.
Previously, the famous black-label brand (the better-quality, higher-priced product) had been 86 proof, where legal, while the lower-end green label was 80 proof. This was the second reduction in alcohol content since the Brown-Forman Corporation bought the distillery in 1956. They had previously reduced the alcohol content from bottling the black-label product at 90 proof and the green-label product at 86. Both were made from the same ingredients; the difference was determined by professional tasters, who determined which of the batches would be sold under the higher-priced black label, the rest being sold under the green label. After the lowering of the black label bottles to 80 proof, there is no longer a difference between the proof level of the black and green label bottles.
Racing sponsorships
In 2006, Jack Daniel's sponsored the Perkins Engineering team in the Australian V8 SupercarV8 Supercar
V8 Supercars is a touring car racing category based in Australia and run as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile regulations...
series, which continued until the end of 2008. From 2009 their sponsorship moved to the newly formed Kelly Racing
Kelly Racing
Kelly Racing is a team competing in the Australian V8 Supercar series. It is owned by John and Margaret Kelly, and made its debut in 2009. The team's current four drivers are 2006 V8 Supercar series champion Rick Kelly and 2005 Bathurst 1000 winner Todd Kelly , four time Bathurst 1000 winner Greg...
team, formed from the remnants of Perkins Engineering and now defunct HSV Dealer Team. Jack Daniel's also sponsored the Richard Childress Racing
Richard Childress Racing
RCR Enterprises, LLC, doing business as Richard Childress Racing, is a NASCAR team based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by former driver Richard Childress...
07 car (numbered after the "Old No. 7") in the NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Sprint Cup Series from 2005 to 2009.
Master distillers
Jeff Arnett, a company employee since 2001, became Jack Daniel's master distiller in 2008. He is the seventh person to hold the position in the distillery's history. His predecessor, Jimmy BedfordJimmy Bedford
James Howard "Jimmy" Bedford was responsible for overseeing the production of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey and ensuring the consistent flavor of the product in his 20 years serving as the distillery's sixth master distiller.-Early life:Bedford was born on January 30, 1940 in Franklin County,...
, held the position for 20 years. Bedford retired in mid-2008 after being the subject of a $3.5 million sexual harassment lawsuit against the company that ended in an out-of-court settlement, and he died on August 7, 2009 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Lynchburg. Jack Daniel himself was the first to take care of these duties.
Cocktails
Jack Daniel's is the alcoholic component of "Jack and CokeJack and Coke
Jack and Coke is a cocktail made with Jack Daniel's whiskey and Coca-Cola. The drink is usually served with ice in an old-fashioned glass or a Collins glass. In the United Kingdom, the term "J.D...
" (also known as "J.D. and Coke"), a common cocktail
Cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...
.
Jack Daniel's is also the alcoholic component of "Lynchburg Lemonade
Lynchburg lemonade
A Lynchburg Lemonade is a cocktail made with, among other ingredients, Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey. It is named after Lynchburg, Tennessee, home of the Jack Daniel's distillery. A typical recipe is 1 part Jack Daniel's, 1 part triple sec, 1 part sour mix and 4 parts lemon-lime soda. It thus...
".
Further reading
- Waymack, M. H., & Harris, J. F. (1995). The book of classic American whiskeys. Chicago, Illinois: Open Court.
External links
- Jack Daniel's family genealogy
- "An Interview with Jimmy Bedford, Distiller, Jack Daniels," AlcoholReviews.com.
- The story of 'Jack' Daniel
- Building a better barrel – Associated Press June 6, 2007