Tennessee Whiskey
The subject of eternal debate among whiskey enthusiasts, Tennessee whiskey is technically a type of bourbon. It must be produced to the same specifications as bourbon: at least 51% corn, aged in new, charred oak containers, and bottled at a minimum of 80 proof. Unsurprisingly, it must also be produced in the state of Tennessee. The most unique requirement, however, is that it must use the Lincoln County Process in its production. While most whiskey is filtered through activated charcoal before bottling, the Lincoln County Process is a more elaborate filtration procedure that uses sugar maple charcoal before it goes into the barrel. The result is a “mellowing” of the whiskey, as well as unique maple and smoke notes in many expressions. The most famous Tennessee whiskey, and also the best-selling American whiskey in the world, is Jack Daniel’s. There are only a few other Tennessee whiskey producers today, partly owing to Jack Daniel’s dominance of the category and also because Tennessee, until the 2010s, heavily restricted the production of alcohol in the state.
Top Tennessee Whiskey Posts:
A Visit to Jack Daniel’s Distillery
A Visit to Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery
George Dickel Tennessee Whiskies – Cascade Hollow, No. 8, and No. 12
It is no small thing for a craft whiskey distillery to release its own, house-made whiskey, and because whiskey takes valuable time to produce, often years of barrel aging, it’s a stressful waiting game. Nelson’s ...
In case you may have thought that Barrell Bourbon was a bit of a newcomer to the whiskey scene, we’re now actually up to 20 releases in their eponymous line of small batch bourbons. We ...
The fourth release in Jack Daniel’s experimental Tennessee Tasters’ Selection series has arrived, and it’s a cask strength expression of its Tennessee Rye bottling. So, not too experimental… but as flavor profiles go, this one’s a ...
George Dickel is awfully late to the Bottled in Bond party, but here it is at last, with a 13 year old Tennessee Whiskey spearheaded by Nicole Austin, the company’s new head distiller and general ...
Jack Daniel’s latest innovation starts, like most, with the essentials of Old No. 7. Crafted from the same mash, it’s also filtered before barrel-aging by passing it through maple charcoal, just like all “real” Tennessee ...
For a city that seems to always be in need of a stiff drink, WhiskyFest D.C. was a little less crowded than in previous years. Once again, there was no sign of Pappy van Winkle, but ...
We first explored Sugarlands Distilling’s Roaming Man Tennessee Straight Rye Whiskey back before the holidays last year with our review of Edition Four. It was a very limited release, as all of the Roaming Man ...
Last November Jack Daniel’s introduced its first experimental whiskey releases — ever. The two Tennessee Tasters’ Selection releases were both solid but unusual (to varying degrees), and a third release was promised to come down ...
That’s two years in a row with no major injuries – woo! Whiskies of the World 2019 is in the books, at least its San Francisco installment, and that means another spring evening of Scotch, ...
Back when we reviewed the inaugural release of Bob Dylan’s Heaven’s Door whiskey, we titled that post “Complete Lineup.” Turns out that wasn’t quite accurate, because Heaven’s Door released a fourth whiskey shortly after its ...
