While in Nashville we drove a bit south to visit the Jack Daniel Distillery.\u00a0 We learned a lot about whiskey and in particular Jack Daniel’s whiskey.\u00a0 Jack Daniel lived in the mid-1800s and when he was 8 he left home where he didn’t get along with his stepmother and lived with a minister and his family.\u00a0 The minister also owned a small store and made whiskey to sell in his store.\u00a0 Jack learned the art of making whiskey from this minister.\u00a0 When Jack was 14 the congregation went to the minister and said “You can either be our minister or you can make whiskey but you can’t do both”.\u00a0 So, the minister sold the whiskey business to Jack.<\/p>\n
Jack found an underground spring near the area where he lived and found the water especially clear and tasty.\u00a0 He decided to use this water in his whiskey, and from 1884 until now, Jack Daniel whiskey has been made with ONLY that water.\u00a0 At the entrance to the cave where the water comes from is a life-size statue of Jack Daniel, posed on some rocks.\u00a0 As we snapped a picture our tour guide told us this was the only “free shot of Jack Daniels on the rocks” we would ever get!<\/p>\n
There’s just that one distillery that has been continually in use since 1884.\u00a0 And, a specific type of tree local to the area is used for the charcoal used in filtering the whiskey.\u00a0 The whiskey soaks through 10 feet of charcoal, taking 5-7 days.\u00a0 This part of the process is to get the oils from the barley and other ingredients out of the liquid.\u00a0 Tasters continually taste the whiskey as it comes out of this process, and when they get the slightest hint of oil in the mix the charcoal is tossed out and the remaining whiskey that is soaking down through that batch is put through the filtering process again with new charcoal.<\/p>\n
The oak barrels that hold the whiskey while it ages is also unique.\u00a0 The barrels are made and then “fired” so the inside gets all blackened.\u00a0 The whiskey is aged for several years in the barrel, without being moved or turned.\u00a0 They have barrel warehouses all over the county to keep them separated – in case one catches on fire the others will not be burned.\u00a0 There’s never been a fire, however, but there is a fire department at the distillery.<\/p>\n
It was an informative and interesting tour.\u00a0 The bottles that were on sale there were quite expensive however so we didn’t buy or taste anything.\u00a0 As Jeff does like whiskey, he bought a bottle later…in a different county.\u00a0 The distillery is located in Moore County which is a dry county…meaning you cannot purchase Jack Daniel whiskey anywhere around the distillery EXCEPT AT the distillery.<\/p>\n
Here are pictures we took:<\/p>\n\n