Jack Daniels Single Barrel Review

Country: USA

Brand: Jack Daniels Single Barrel

Type: Whiskey (Tennessee)

Age:  NAS (Usually over 4 Years)

Alcohol: 47%

Colour: Deep Reddish/Full Gold

Nose: Sweet Corn, Maple Syrup, Charred Oak, Vanilla, Spice (White Pepper), Acetone, Banana, Furniture Wax and Butter. A bit of Alcohol is present what can be expected when bottled at 47%. The Nose is a more mature version of the Old # 7. After a while I get additional fruit (Peach). Quite nice. Need a little time to open up.

Taste: Cinnamon, Rye, White Pepper, Charred Wood, Vanilla, Toffee, Cigar Box, Cherries and Licorice.

Finish: Quite long. Dry, Spicy and Sour with Lemon, Licorice, Walnuts and Rye. Bit of Maple Syrup is the only sweet component.

I added a couple of drops of water to the whiskey that suppressed the Alcohol and the White Pepper on the Nose. It becomes sweeter and mellow with more Cinnamon, Maple Syrup, Sweet Corn and Caramel. Taste and Finish just mellow down a bit. You can certainly experiment with a little water here.

Rating   82   

Nose: 21.5 – Taste: 20 – Finish: 20– Overall: 20.5

General Remarks: The Jack Daniels Distillery is located in Lynchburg (Tennessee). It was indeed founded by a man called Jack Daniel in 1866 and it stayed in the family until 1956 when it was bought by Brown Forman from Kentucky.  

The Single Barrels that are chosen for this expression are selected from the uppermost floors of the warehouses located on the hills surrounding the distillery. During the year these floors endure extremes in temperature resulting in very aromatic and smooth whiskeys. Each bottle is hand–labeled and marked with the number of the Barrel, the Rick and the date of bottling. In this case I’m tasting bottle # II-5199 from Rick # L-2 that was bottled on the 13^th of October 2011. The mash bill for this whiskey consists of Corn, Barley and Rye.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Drinking Experience on the Rocks: Very Good

Conclusion: I found this Single Barrel to be in line with the general taste pattern of the Old # 7. It’s a bit more mature and polished than # 7 but not too smooth like the Gentleman Jack. It certainly benefits from the higher Alcohol percentage of 47%. If the Old # 7 would be bottled with the same percentage, it would be very difficult to tell them apart in a blind tasting session. Having said that, the nose of this Single Barrel was more interesting and mature than both Old # 7 and Gentleman Jack. The Peach tone was very convincing. And the colour is really beautiful. And it tastes great with Ice thanks to the 47% Alcohol. Is it worth all the extra money? I don’t think so. Despite the very nice bottle and packaging. In the end, I think that’s a compliment to the producers of Jack Daniels. It means that they have a very adequate standard expression with the Old # 7.

Jan van den Ende                                                           September 10, 2012