Jack Daniel's

What it is

Jack Daniel's is a brand of Tennessee whiskey produced at Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, which has been owned by Brown-Forman since 1956. Packaged in square bottles, Jack Daniel's "Black Label" Tennessee whiskey sold 12.9 million nine-liter cases in 2017. Other brand variations, such as Tennessee Honey, Tennessee Apple, Gentleman Jack, Tennessee Fire, and ready to drink (RTD) products brought the total to more than 16.1 million equivalent adjusted cases for the entire Jack Daniel's family of brands.

Key facts

What it is

business, enterprise, distillery source

Made by

Brown-Forman source

Owned by

Brown-Forman source

Parent company

Brown-Forman source

Founded by

Jack Daniel source

Created

1866 source

Country of origin

United States source

Headquarters

Jack Daniel's Distillery source

How it is made

Former Master Distillers include Nathan "Nearest" Green (1875–81), Jess Motlow (1911–41), Lem Tolley (1941–64), Jess Gamble (1964–66), and Frank Bobo (1966–92). Jimmy Bedford 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. The mash for Jack Daniel's is composed of 80% corn, 12% rye, and 8% malted barley, and is distilled in copper stills. It is then filtered through 10-foot (3 m) stacks of sugar maple charcoal. The company refers to this filtering step as "mellowing". The Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg is situated in and around a hollow known as "Stillhouse Hollow" or "Jack Daniel's Hollow", where a spring flows from a cave at the base of a limestone cliff. The limestone removes iron from the water, making it ideal for distilling whiskey (water heavy in iron gives whiskey a bad taste). The spring feeds into nearby East Fork Mulberry Creek, which is part of the Elk River watershed.

The story behind the name and label

Old No. 7, also known as "Black Label": this is the original Jack Daniel's label (80 proof/40% ABV; previously 90 proof/45% ABV until 1987). Gentleman Jack: Charcoal filtered twice, compared to once with Old No.

Fun facts

Frank Sinatra was a Jack Daniel's drinker. He was buried with a bottle of Jack Daniel's in 1998. Lemmy of Motörhead cited Jack Daniel's as his drink of choice.