Old No. 7

On a long and lonesome highway in south central Tennessee among rolling hills and cattle ranches is a small town of under 7,000 people called Lynchburg. Right now, about a third of you are thinking, “where have I heard that name”, while another third may have no recollection of it at all. But for the other third, you know exactly where I’m heading next.

When driving through Tennessee, you could blink and pass right by Lynchburg and not even know you were at the home of the oldest registered distillery in the United States, Jack Daniel’s. Yes, Jack Daniel’s has been producing their whiskey in this little town since 1866 and still use the same general distilling practices today while distributing millions of cases per year around the world.

Since Lynchburg is 75 miles or more from any major city and there’s not a lot of accommodations in the area, this is likely a long day trip or stop along the journey rather than a destination in itself. That said, the Jack Daniel’s distillery is one of the most visited distilleries in the world. After an extensive tour lasting over an hour and a half, I can understand why.

The guided distillery tours are held in relatively small groups which feels very personalized, and significantly enhances the experience. Our tour guide, Hanna Grace (HG), is a local resident of Moore County and was a wealth of information and had a very pleasant demeanor.

As you tour the distillery, from the top of the hill back down to the visitor center, you feel like you stepped back into 1866. They use large copper continuous column stills to make their whiskey rather than traditional stainless steel pot stills like many other distilleries have switched to. They also use the same charcoal filtering process, called the Lincoln County Process, that they have done from day one, and even produce their own sugar maple charcoal. Why do they keep these old traditions? Well in Jack’s own words, “every day we make it, we’ll make it the best we can.”

The story of how Jasper Newton “Jack” Daniel started this distillery is quite interesting. Jack left home at a very young age and was taken in by a local preacher and distiller named Dan Call. At Call’s farm, Jack learned whiskey making from an enslaved man named Nathan “Nearest” Green. When Jack opened his own distillery in 1866, he hired Nearest as the first master distiller of Jack Daniel’s. The location in Lynchburg was chosen due to the natural limestone cave spring with iron-free water that runs through the property. That spring is still the water source used today to make Jack Daniel’s whiskey.

The tour takes you through all areas of the distillery, including the stills, charcoal filtering (Lincoln County Process), mash tanks, labeling and barrel storage facilities (rickhouse). You even get to see the cave spring and Jack’s original office on the property and learn about what ultimately became the demise of Jack. On the floor in the building is a large safe. One morning Jack was trying to open the safe and apparently forgot the combination. After several attempts he became frustrated and kicked the safe which injured his foot. Going untreated for a considerable time, the injury turned into gangrene and eventually took his life.

As you walk through the outside areas of the distillery you may notice an eerie black crusty coating on many surfaces. That’s the handiwork of whiskey fungus, a fungus that gorges on the ethanol vapors released from aging barrels (aka the “angel’s share”) and spreads its sooty spores far and wide, blanketing trees, buildings, and fences in a stubborn, velvety black layer. While it’s mostly just an eyesore, it’s hard to get rid of as long as those rickhouses keep puffing out ethanol. Not a major health hazard, but definitely a reminder of whiskey’s wild side.  Back during prohibition it was called the “tattle-tell” fungus, because the blackened trees were a sure giveaway of some illegal hooch being made.

The tour finally commences in the tasting room where you get to taste six varieties of the Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whisky, including the original Old No. 7, Gentleman Jack which goes through a more extensive filtering process, Single Barrel Select (a stronger more robust version), Tennessee Blackberry (think ice tea on a back porch on a hot summer day), and finally Tennessee Honey (the bottle that made it home with us). HG was great at teaching us the proper way to taste and prepare our pallets for the whisky tasting which will no doubt come in handy with future tastings.

In closing, I’ll leave you with another interesting fact. The millions of cases produced and shipped annually from this distillery, along with the liquor sales from their store and visitor tastings, is all done in a dry county… meaning liquor sales are not allowed by law. However, distilling liquor and shipping it out of the county is allowed. They get by with allowing tastings because it is an “educational activity”. Tennessee later created a legal exception to allow limited bottle sales for economic tourism purposes.

While in Lynchburg be sure to check out the shops in the town square and do not miss having lunch at Miss Mary Bobo’s. This 1800’s building, turned boarding house by Mary Bobo in 1908, and eventually a restaurant serving family style dining in several private rooms within the house, is a must do experience. A host sits at the table with you and explains all the history while you eat and mingle with others at the table. It is a truly unique dining experience with some pretty darn good southern food. Be sure to make advance reservations because there is limited space for the two daily seatings.

Our travels will soon take us into Kentucky, the “Bourbon Capital of the World”, where our research will continue. Stay tuned!