Jack Daniel's
Jack Daniel's is a brand of Tennessee whiskey. It is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee, by the Jack Daniel Distillery, which has been owned by the Brown–Forman Corporation since 1956.
This article is about Jack Daniel's whiskey. For people named Jack Daniels, see Jack Daniels (disambiguation).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.
Early life of Jasper Daniel[edit]
The Jack Daniel's brand's official website suggests that its founder, Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel, was born in 1850 (his tombstone bears that date[3]), but says his exact birth date is unknown.[4] The company website says it is customary to celebrate his birthday in September.[4] According to the Tennessee state library website in 2013, records list his birth date as September 5, 1846. It maintains that the 1850 birth date seems impossible since his mother died in 1847.[3] In the 2004 biography Blood & Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel, author Peter Krass said his investigation showed that Daniel was born in January 1849 (based on Jack's sister's diary, census records, and the date of death of Jack's mother).[5]
Jack was the youngest of 10 children born to his mother, Lucinda (Cook) Daniel, and father Calaway Daniel. After Lucinda's death, his father remarried and had three more children.[5] Calaway Daniel's father, Joseph "Job" Daniel, had emigrated from Wales to the United States with his Scottish wife, the former Elizabeth Calaway.[6] Jack Daniel's ancestry included English, and Scots-Irish as well.[7]
Jack did not get along with his stepmother. After Daniel's father died in the Civil War, the boy was legally adopted by a family friend named Felix Waggoner, but was soon taken in by another local farmer named Dan Call .[8][5]
Legal status[edit]
On a state level, Tennessee has imposed stringent requirements. To be labeled as Tennessee whiskey, it is not enough under state law that the whiskey be produced in Tennessee; it must meet quality and production standards. These are the same standards used by Jack Daniel's Distillery, and some other distillers are displeased with the requirements being enshrined into law.[54][55]
On May 13, 2013, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed House Bill 1084, requiring the Lincoln County process to be used for products produced in the state labeling themselves as "Tennessee Whiskey", with a particular exception tailored to exempt Benjamin Prichard's, and including the existing requirements for bourbon.[55][56] As federal law requires statements of origin on labels to be accurate, the Tennessee law effectively gives a firm definition to Tennessee whiskey, requiring Tennessee origin, maple charcoal filtering by the Lincoln County process prior to aging, and the basic requirements of bourbon (at least 51% corn, new oak barrels, charring of the barrels, and limits on alcohol by volume concentration for distillation, aging, and bottling).
In 2014 legislation was introduced in the Tennessee legislature that would modify the 2013 law to allow the reuse of oak barrels in the Tennessee whiskey aging process. Jack Daniel's Master Distiller Jeff Arnett vehemently opposed the legislation, arguing the reuse of barrels would require the use of artificial colorings and flavorings, and would render Tennessee whiskey an inferior product to Scotch and bourbon.[57]
The company was the subject of a proposal to locally surtax its product in 2011. It was claimed that the distillery, the main employer in a company town, had capitalized on the bucolic image of Lynchburg, Tennessee, and it ought to pay a tax of $10 per barrel. The company responded that such a tax is a confiscatory imposition penalizing it for the success of the enterprise.[58] The proposed tax faced a vote by the Metro Lynchburg-Moore County Council and was defeated 10–5.[59]
Moore County, where the Jack Daniel's distillery is located, is one of the state's many dry counties. While it is legal to distill the product within the county, it is illegal to purchase it there.[60] However, a state law has provided one exception: a distillery may sell one commemorative product at a time, regardless of county statutes.[61]
Grain mill at Jack Daniel's Distillery
Whiskey barrels in the distillery
Inside the barrels
