Editor’s Note: The Whiskey Wash welcomes Chris Chamberlain to our writing team.
Founded in 1866, the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg, Tenn., is the oldest registered distillery still operating in the United States, and its square bottles are found prominently displayed in bars all over the world. If there’s booze on the International Space Station, odds are it’s a bottle of Jack Black. (Unless the cosmonauts smuggled some vodka onboard… .)
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Actually, 1866 is the year that the original Call & Call Distillery was registered as an entity, not long before young Jack Daniel took over after founder Reverend Dan Call quit the whiskey biz for religious reasons. So that’s the year that the current management of the Brown Forman-owned distillery has chosen as a reason to celebrate the brand’s 150th anniversary all year with a series of special events and bottle releases.
It’s not the first time the company marked a milestone in the life of the diminutive Mr. Daniel, in fact not even the first sesquicentennial. Back in September of 1999, the company released a commemorative bottle in honor of Daniel’s 150th birthday. It still chooses to celebrate the entire month because nobody knows exactly when he was born or even if he was a Virgo or a Libra.
The 1999 birthday celebration saw a commemorative release bottled at 90 proof—the same ABV as all Black Label products until proof was dropped to 86 in 1987, followed by a plunge to 80 around the turn of the century.
Confirming that everything old is new again, the latest anniversary bottle celebrating the 150th anniversary of the original founding of the distillery is also a throwback to the higher proof days, but only the level of the 1990s at 86. Even though the mash bill is identical to Jack Daniel’s Black Label, (and Green Label, and Single Barrel, and Sinatra and Gentleman Jack for that matter) it does make a marked difference in the nuances of the whiskey in the bottle.
Although there is every indication that this special product comes from the same barrels that produce the regular 80 proof products, the slightly higher alcohol content contributes a delightful extra bit of burn on the palate, accenting the sweetness of the high corn mash bill that characterizes all Jack Daniel’s products. Of course, the charcoal mellowing does round out Jack’s sharp edges, but the bite of the proof does come through in the form of a tongue-coating and tannic heat. The butterscotch and pepper that characterize most Tennessee whiskeys coming out of Lynchburg is also quite apparent with the benefit that the caramel and vanilla notes on the finish are a little longer with the 150th Anniversary Edition.
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Like other Jack products, there is no age statement associated with Jack Daniel’s 150th Anniversary limited edition, but it is clearly a relatively young product even if it is a century and a half in the making. In addition to this special release, the distillery has a series of other events planned during 2016 to commemorate this celebratory year. Mark McCallum, president of Jack Daniel’s, has announced an aggressive party plan, including:
- Global Barrel Scavenger Hunt
- Global Master Distiller for a Day Contest
- Renovations and New Facilities at the Jack Daniel Distillery
- Celebration Event in Lynchburg in October
- Closing Bell Ringing and Anniversary Reception at the New York Stock Exchange
Leave it to Jack Daniel’s to turn a birthday party into a yearlong celebration. Jamie Butler, Jack Daniel’s global brand manager is not surprised by fans’ ardent reaction to the whiskey.
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