Jack Daniel's
For the running coach, see Jack Daniels (coach).For the British car engineer, see William 'Jack' Daniels. |
Statue of Jack Daniel at the Distillery in November 2004. |
Jack Daniel's is a
Tennessee whiskey distillery and brand known for its square bottles and black label. The company, based in
Lynchburg, Tennessee, has been owned by the
Brown-Forman conglomerate since 1957.
It is believed that the founder — Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel — was born in September 1850, although seemingly no one knows the exact date. If the 1850 date is correct, he may have become a licensed distiller at the age of 16, as the distillery claims a founding date of 1866. Other records list his birthdate as
September 5,
1846, and in his 2004 biography
Blood & Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel author Peter Krass maintains that land and deed records show the distillery was actually not founded until 1875. Daniel was one of thirteen children, of
Welsh descent.
Since Jack Daniel never married and did not have any children, he took his favorite nephew, Lem Motlow, under his wing. Lem had a head for numbers and was soon doing all the distillery's bookkeeping. In 1907, due to failing health, Jack Daniel gave the distillery to his nephew. Jack later died from
blood poisoning in 1911.
The infection allegedly set up originally in a toe, which Daniel injured in kicking his safe in anger when he couldn't get it open early one morning at work — he had always had trouble remembering the combination. This incident was the subject of a marketing poster used on the
London Underground in January 2006, with the line "Moral: Never go to work early."
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 pretend in marketing that Lem Motlow, who died in 1947, is the current proprietor, as 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, while the current (2000
census) population is actually 5,740. This is allowable because the entire label was
trademarked 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 361 figure is also used on their website, which has nothing to do with the old label trademark issue. The large expansion of Lynchburg's population is largely due to its
consolidation with
Moore County. An interesting fact:
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, Single Barrel" at the distillery's White Rabbit Bottle Shop.
In October, 2004 it was announced that all generally-available Jack Daniel's products would thenceforth be bottled at 80
U.S. proof (40%
alcohol by volume), which is the highest proof allowed in some jurisdictions; this will simplify the production process. (This reduction in alcohol content was condemned by
Modern Drunkard magazine.) Previously to this, the famous black-label brand (the better-quality, higher-priced product) had generally for several years been 86 proof, where legal, the lower-end green label 80 proof; these marked reductions from the previous practice until recent years of bottling the black-label product at 90 proof and the green-label product at 86. Both are made from the same ingredients; the difference is determined by professional tasters who determine which of the batches will be graded out as worthy of being labelled with the prestigious black label, the rest being sold under the green label.
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Whiskey barrels in the distillery |
In recent years, a third product, "Gentleman Jack", was created. It has always been bottled at 80 proof since its inception. This superpremium product is produced in the same manner as other
Tennessee whiskey except that after aging and prior to bottling it is once again subjected to the
Lincoln County Process (charcoal-filtering). There is also now a 94 proof "Single Barrel" product available in some markets, which has also been sold in commemorative bottles at the distillery in recent years.
The distillery at 280 Lynchburg Highway is part of the
American Whiskey Trail. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places on
September 14,
1972.
According to Jimmy Bedford, CEO and current Master Distiller, years and years ago the company would ship all products by railroad. One shipment got lost in a railroad terminal and when the barrels were located they were ordered to be shipped down the track. A new shipping ticket was created and "Old" was written in front of the original shipping number, "No. 7". Requests then began coming in for more shipments of the "Old No. 7 on the ticket". [
1] The full title printed on the label reads: Jack Daniel's Old Time Old No.7 Brand Quality Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey.
*In the movie
The Quiller Memorandum (1966) starring George Segal, the main character orders Jack Daniel's while being interrogated in Neo-Nazi's headquarters. [
2]
*In 2005, Jack Daniel's shipped 7.5 million cases. The company is experiencing a 15-20% growth and anticipates shipping 10 million cases by 2009.
*In 2006 Jack Daniel's sponsors the number 07 car in
NASCAR, driven by
Clint Bowyer for
Richard Childress Racing.
*A flask of Jack Daniel's is buried with singer
Frank Sinatra along with an assortment of other items.
*In the movie 'Animal House', John Belushi's character chugs a full 26er of Jack Daniels in about two minutes.
*
Official website*
Jack Daniel's Collectors Page Jack Daniels & Lem Motlow collectables, jugs and bottles.
*
Jack Daniel's family genealogy*
Peter Krass site promoting biography*
The Whisky Guide
