Last month Brown-Forman, owner of the Jack Daniel’s distillery, announced that they would be changing the classic Old No. 7 bottle label to “clean up” the label and that the new bottles would be seen in stores starting in July 2011. July isn’t quite here, but the new label design has been released. I have to say that I like the new label, it looks less cluttered and a bit more refined without being to modern. I think they did a wonderful job of updating the label without changing it.
Old No. 7.
The recipe that made Tennessee whiskey famous. Its distinct bottle and flavor are known around the world and have become iconic of American liquor. But did you know that the Jack Daniel’s Distillery actually makes more than just Old No. 7? They have branched out in recent years to include three more Tennessee whiskey products in their repertoire.
In the Barrelhouse at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery, they have something like 20 levels of shelves for the barrels. The lower the shelf, the less volatile the temperature.
The 15 lower shelves house essentially the same brew, but the bottom three shelves are rotated out much quicker. These barrels are bottle with a green label, providing a much younger (and much cheaper) whiskey to the public. Since this whiskey only ages for about 3 years, without the temperature flux from the higher levels, you are left with a lighter, less flavorful, harsher whiskey. Green Label was designed to be a cheap alternative to the traditional Old No. 7, so if you can afford a bottle of Old No. 7, forgo this option completely.
While he was alive, Jack Daniel was fixated on adding a second charcoal filtration into his distillation process. He tried it several different ways, but was apparently never satisfied with his experiment since it was never added.
Though he never got it right, Jack kept the notes on his experiments, and in 1988 the distillery perfected it, adding a second charcoal mellowing after taking the matured whiskey out of the barrel.
Instead of changing the age-old recipe for Old No. 7 (and possibly alienating Jack drinkers everywhere), the distillery released it as a new product called “Gentleman Jack’s Tennessee Whiskey.” The second charcoal filtration mellows the flavor even further, resulting in a smoother, more refined taste.
As with most whiskeys, Old No. 7 is a blended whiskey. Ultimately derived from a number of individual barrels blended together to ensure that every bottle of whiskey has that distinctive Jack Daniel’s flavor.
When a whiskey manufacturer sells a single barrel variety, they are making a statement that every single barrel they produce will be consistently good without the need to blend. It’s a bold statement to be sure, but the Jack Daniel’s Distillery takes it a step further. They store the barrels dedicated to this product at the very top of the barrelhouse, exposing it to the most volatile temperature extremes, and allow it to sit for a few more years. This means that this whiskey will be darker, with much more barrel flavors than Old No. 7.
America’s most famous distiller, Jack Daniel made a name for himself by bringing a new kind of American whiskey to the forefront.
Born in Lynchburg, Tennessee sometime in September (recorded as the 5th) possibly in the year 1850, or maybe 1846, depending on the source, Jasper Newton “Jack” Daniel was one of 13 kids born to Calaway and Lucinda Daniel.
Becoming a legend
As a young boy, Jack left home and went to live with a family friend, Lutheran minister Dan Call. Call also ran a local store and had a stillhouse on his property right outside of Lynchburg. It was through Call that Jack learned the art of distilling whiskey.
In 1863, after receiving pressure from his wife and congregation to decide between his ministry and the distillery, Call decided to devote his life to the church and sold the distillery to Jack. In 1866 Jack registered the distillery, making it the oldest register distillery in the US, as it is so clearly stated on every bottle of Old No. 7.
Old No. 7
The stories of how Jack Daniels came to be labeled Old No. 7 are vast and include everything from lucky number 7, to the barrel shipping number, to the possibility that it was the seventh recipe. The world will never know, he took that secret to the grave.
A family business
Daniel never married, although he is rumored to have had seven girlfriends (not sure if this was at the same time or throughout his life). Because he had no children, he took his nephew, Lem Motlow as his apprentice, teaching him the ins and outs of the whiskey industry.
An accident leads to death
While it was clear that Motlow would take over the distillery eventually, Jack stayed in charge until his death in 1911. Known to forget the combination on his safe, he became angry one morning after not being able to remember it, and kicked the safe, breaking his toe. The break became infected and eventually led to blood poisoning, eventually leading to his death.
It’s hard to imagine what American whiskey would be without the contributions of Mr. Jack, but it’s safe to say it’s better off because of him.