The history
Jasper ('' Jack '') Newton Daniel was born in 1846. He left home at a young age and from then on grew up with a friend of the family - the Lutheran pastor and whiskey burner - Dan Call. From him Jack learned the art of whiskey branding.
According to tradition, Dan is said to have sold the boy Jack at the age of 13 years his distillery in Lynchburg. Other sources say Jack acquired a piece of land in Lynchburg in 1866 and built his distillery there. In the same year the company '' Jack Daniel's '' as the first distillery in the US state to have been included in the commercial register.
From 1880 Jack led the company together with his nephew Lem Motlow. Because of his poor health, he handed over the distillery in 1907 completely to his nephew, who continued her after the death of Jack in 1911 along with his cousin Dick Daniel. Lem bought his cousin all the shares of the company and inherited the company to his sons Reagor, Robert, Daniel and Clifford.
In 1920, the operation of the distillery had to be discontinued because of prohibition. Only after the Second World War could the production restart.
After the death of Lem Metlow in 1947, his heirs sold the company in 1956 to the Brown Forman group.
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Country / Region |
USA/ Tennessee |
|
Status |
In operation |
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Owner |
Brown Forman |
|
Address |
Jack Daniel Jack Daniel Barrelhouse |
|
Contact |
http://www.jackdaniels.com/ |
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Founding year |
1866 |
The production
Jack Daniel's is basically made like other bourbon whiskeys. The mash consists of 80% corn, 12% rye and 8% barley. The needed water is supplied by Jack Daniel's from an iron-free limestone spring.
By "sour mash" the so-called Distillers Beer is fermented. That is, with each new fermentation process, some mash from the previous one is added. The lactic acid bacteria thus maintain a low pH which prevents bacterial growth and provides optimal living conditions for the yeast. The fermented mash is then distilled in a copper kettle with a diameter of 30m.
This is followed by filtering through a three meter thick layer of charcoal, the so-called Charcoal Mellowing. In this process, the whiskey trickles for 12 days through a layer made of sugar maple produced charcoal. In the process, unwanted flavor components and suspended particles are filtered out of the whiskey, and it assumes the aromas of charcoal, similar to maturing in barrels. Thus, the actual bourbon whiskey becomes a real Tennessee whiskey.
The storage
Jack Daniels owns a total of 79 warehouses, the multi-level barrel houses. After filtering the whiskeys are matured in burned out white oak barrels and stored for at least 4 years before bottling follows.
