Jack Daniel's opposes changing Tenn. whiskey law

Associated Press ^ | March 17, 2014

[ConservativeStatement]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – If it isn't fermented in Tennessee from mash of at least 51 percent corn, aged in new charred oak barrels, filtered through maple charcoal and bottled at a minimum of 80 proof, it isn't Tennessee whiskey. So says a year-old law that resembles almost to the letter the process used to make Jack Daniel's, the world's best-known Tennessee whiskey.

[ClearCase_guy]

It’s hard to know where business stops and government begins. They seem to meld together these days.

[andyk]

It’s hard to know where business stops and government begins.

You ain't just whistling dixie.

[ConorMacNessa]

Indeed - the city boundaries of Smithfield, VA have been a battleground for years. Now Smithfield Hams is owned by the Chinese - I wish they'd make the boundaries contiguous with the entire state.

I have no dog in this Tennessee question - I drink Single Malt Scotch and an occasional Irish whiskey - I'm enjoying a Jameson this evening for St. Patrick's Day.

America demands Justice for the Fallen of Benghazi!

O stranger, tell the Lacedaemonians that we lie here, obedient to their command.

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[shove_it]

Jack’s got juice.

[South Dakota]

ackk,,,jack daniels.
I have to lick my ass to get the taste out of my mouth

[Nifster]

crony capitalism....

that said, the French do it with wine and hence in the US you find sparkling wines made by methods rather than actual champagne

[Pontiac]

Gentleman Jack

One of my favorites!

Don't change a thing!

[ConservativeStatement]

Jack is a special brand. I also got a bottle of this, mentioned in the article, at a cheap discount near Christmas time: "Spirits that don't follow those guidelines can't be sold as bourbon. One example is Brown-Forman's own Early Times, which is marketed as a "Kentucky whisky" because it is made in reused barrels"

[centurion316]

Filtering their whiskey through charcoal, as is done with Tennessee whiskey is a shortcut. It produces fine whiskey, but is the major distinction between Tennessee whiskey and bourbon whiskey.

Jack Daniels has fallen behind some of the top shelf bourbons being crafted in Kentucky, but also elsewhere as bourbon need not be distilled in Kentucky and certainly not in Bourbon County. Dickel is not in the race, in my view.

The market does work in this world. While I can’t find and probably can’t afford a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle, I can and do buy it’s cousin, Weller’s - a great bargain and hard to distinguish in a side by side test with Pappy.

[RedHeeler]

“Laws, Laws, Laws...” Ain’t there enough of them, now?

[HiTech RedNeck]

Oh, yeehaw.

If a wine is produced in California, it qualifies to be a California wine. But in Tennessee the beverage needs to be Jack Daniels style to be a Tennessee whiskey.

And so be it, if it must. Maybe Jack Daniels will find itself with a crop of newcomers that will actually beat it.

[ConservativeStatement]

Re: Weller’s.

I will look for that in the future.

[okie01]

There IS a difference between new and used barrels.

The wood lends to the color and characteristics of a distilled spirit. At bottom, the quality of the wood lends to the quality of the product.

By law, calling a whiskey 'bourbon' requires that it be aged in virgin barrels. As the article notes, Early Times re-uses barrels and, thus, cannot call itself 'bourbon' -- it's label reads "Kentucky whiskey". And they employ artificial coloring agents and flavors to keep the color and taste consistent from one batch to the next.

You want whiskey aged in re-used barrels? All scots whisky is -- the wood has little to do with the flavor or the color of scotch.

Indeed, the scots whisky distilleries pay a premium for used Jack Daniel's barrels.

Tennessee would be making a huge mistake to relax the rules for "Tennessee whiskey".

[ConservativeStatement]

Early Times is, excuse the pun, bottom of the barrel then?

[yarddog]

I am pretty sure I saw somewhere that Jack Daniels is made in a dry county.

[RedHeeler]

Dang, so you only drank it, one time? “Have..” would imply a multitude of such tastings. At least your bottom is clean. Thank Jack D., or make your own non-butt likker. I’m from Nord Dakota, the south whiskies are kinda nice.

[ClearCase_guy]

The wood lends to the color and characteristics of a distilled spirit.

Absolutely true. Of course, it also true that, historically, some makers of spirits have included additives. There is a story of a producer of Scotch whisky who was stringent about quality. The result was a pale, straw-colored spirit. Critics were unhappy -- "Why is your whisky so pale?" they asked.

"Why is my competitor's so dark?" he replied.

[okie01]

Early Times is, excuse the pun, bottom of the barrel then?

That would be one way saying it, I suppose...:)

[Monterrosa-24]

“...Jack Daniels is made in a dry county...”

Yes, and when I was a student at Western Kentucky University Bourbon County was dry and Christian County was wet.