Daddy Rack Tennessee Straight Whiskey Aims To Showcase Best Of This State’s Style

What we know today of Tennessee whiskey stylistically are bottlings that predominantly have the names Jack and George on them. A whole host of other distilleries and brands exist in this state however, showing off their takes on what makes a good regional expression. Now joining this mix is the recently launched Daddy Rack Tennessee Straight Whiskey.

The new Daddy Rack Tennessee Straight Whiskey, according to those behind it, is a passion project of one J. Arthur Rackham, a local whiskey lover who’s said to have more than 30 years of experience working with distillers and cellar masters across Europe. Rackham apparently used his gained skills around spirits blending to craft Daddy Rack, developing an offering whereby “all barrels chosen for Daddy Rack are aged for a minimum of three years, then meticulously blended by Rackham to produce this beautiful 80-proof whiskey made with Grade 1 locally-farmed corn, sour mash fermentation and lightly rectified copper double distillation. The same care is taken with the filtration process – Daddy Rack is filtered using the Lincoln County Process before aging in new, charred American Oak barrels.

“Each small batch comes from only 20 barrels, blended to perfection. As Straight Whiskey, no coloring, caramel or additional flavors are ever added. Just before bottling, every batch of Daddy Rack is double mellowed for maximum smoothness. Finally, each bottle is Batch Coded before proudly joining the world-famous Tennessee Whiskey community.”

“Tennessee Whiskey is the holy grail of spirits!” said Rackham in a prepared statement. “With storied history and strict standards, Tennessee Whiskey is in a league of its own in the crowded and thriving spirits community. Daddy Rack provides spirit drinkers with an approachable, affordable and versatile version of the classic Tennessee libation.”

Daddy Rack has been released across Tennessee, bottled at 40% ABV and pricing around $30 per 750 ml bottle. You’ll find some official tasting notes below. The name “Daddy Rack,” by the way, is a nickname Rackham was given to him by his eldest daughter Grace.

• Appearance: Light golden amber, clear. Nose: Maple, honey, light oak and caramelised banana.
• Taste: Smooth and buttery mouthfeel, roasted apple and banana fruit leads onto vanilla and a hint of nutmeg.
• Finish: Rich and warm, salted popcorn.