Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Distilleries
408
Jack Daniels Distillery
A Mash Note From Mr. Jack
Lynchburg, Tennessee
One of the things that makes bourbon
taste so different from European whiskies
is that the mash—that stewing vatful of
ground corn, barley, and rye—is kicked up
with a dose of already-soured slop mash
from a previous distillation. It's that “sour
mash” that gives bourbon its bracing
acidic bite, a pleasing astringency that lin-
gers on throughout distillation and oak-
barrel aging. Though this technique was
first introduced at the Old Oscar Pepper
Distillery (nowadays known as Woodford
Reserve, see ), all straight bourbons
today use this process, and none more
effectively than Jack Daniels.
Setting up shop in Tennessee, the next
state south from Kentucky, Jack Daniels
couldn't properly call his product “Bour-
bon” whiskey when he distilled his first
batch in 1866, right after the Civil War.
Even today, you'll notice the old-fashioned
black-and-white label refers to it as Ten-
nessee Sour Mash Whiskey. But what Mr.
Jack (as the locals called him) distilled was
pretty much the same thing as his Ken-
tucky colleagues made, except for two
factors: the pure, iron-free water of the
cave spring feeding the distillery, and the
sugar-maple charcoal through which he
filtered the distilled spirit. Both are still
part of whiskey production down here,
and they give the whiskey a mellow, earthy
taste that's instantly recognizable.
The distillery is only an hour's drive
southeast of Nashville, in tiny Lynchburg,
Tennessee, with a population less than
400. Free tours of the distillery grounds
run frequently; expect to do a lot of walk-
ing as you traipse around this verdant
hollow from the fermenting house to the
still to the barrel-crammed warehouse.
After touring the distillery, you can glance
in at the office used by Mr. Jack and see
the battered iron safe that broke his toe in
1911, eventually leading to his death via
blood poisoning. One can only hope that
regular doses of Tennessee sippin' whis-
key helped ease the pain of his last days.
While you're here, you may also want to
dig into some southern home cooking at
the century-old white clapboard
Miss
Mary Bobo's Boarding House
(call for
reservations,
&
931/759-7394
). If you
want to take home a bottle of Jack Daniels,
you can purchase it here at the distillery,
but there are no tastings. Lynchburg is in
tiny Moore County, one of Tennessee's
many “dry” counties that don't permit the
serving or sale of alcohol.
280 Lynchburg Hwy. (TN 55), Lynch-
burg (
&
931/759-4221;
www.jackdaniels.
com).
(
Nashville (89miles/142km).
L
$$$
The Hermitage Hotel,
231 6th
Ave. N (
&
888/888-9414
or 615/244-3121;
www.thehermitagehotel.com). $$
Wyn-
dham Union Station,
1001 Broadway
(
&
615/248-3554;
www.wyndham.com).
