Jack Daniels

We’ve been to several bourbon distilleries, but Jack Daniels wants you to know their liquor is not bourbon but a Tennessee sipping whisky (even though the ingredients and process are almost the same). They add a step where they ‘mellow’ the drink for 4-6 days through charcoal.

The distillery in Lynchburg Tennessee has been around since 1866. It is the oldest registered distillery in the U.S.

This stop is very popular on a Saturday. We circled the full parking lot three times before parking slightly illegally off in the grass. We waited probably 40 minutes before our tour was started. Luckily there were displays to see plus we talked to a young couple from Australia who was traveling the U.S. for 2 months seeing the sights. 

One part of the history I liked was that Jack Daniels was 5’2”. That makes him tall (to me)! The tour takes you to the spring where the water comes from, shows the distillation process, lets you smell the fumes during the charcoal filtering, and a glimpse of the storage. They also showed us where they make their own charcoal. Many of the places they didn't want us to take pictures saying that a spark could ignite fumes. That's kind of bizarre since I've taken pictures of the same processes in other distilleries. 

This is the original office. There’s a story that goes along with the safe. Jack got mad when he had problems opening the safe so he kicked it. The wound festered and eventually killed him.

It was interesting to hear how they dispose of the ‘waste’ mash (corn, rye, and malted barley). It all goes to the farmers in the area who are supposedly very ‘happy’. The charcoal is sold in stores. Given that it’s been soaking in alcohol for months, it’s easy to light (and fairly expensive).