Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel
“Basically, I’m for anything that gets you through the night - be it prayer, tranquilizers or a bottle of Jack Daniel’s”
It’s the first Tennessee whiskey the Gents have reviewed, and to be honest, it is an absolute little belter. If you’re not a fan of the standard black label No. 7, now or never have been, then please don’t be put off trying this expression. There is nothing not to like - even the bottle makes a gorgeous super sexy decanter.
We were in two minds (which is handy, as we do have two between us) about bringing up the subject of the classification of Jack Daniel’s, as it has always been a hot topic for vociferous discussion. We ultimately decided once and for all to put an end to the burning question by conducting a Twitter vote. As regular readers will know, whatever is decided on our Twitter is set in stone until the end of time. In the end it wasn’t even close. It was a resounding result - Jack Daniel’s is not bourbon; it’s officially Whiskey! If you don’t agree, please don’t have a go at us, the Twitter world has decided.
With that out of the way, how did we get on with the bourbon whiskey itself? The nose starts with sweet honey, syrup, and cherries, but not your typical bourbon whiskey sweetness. Mr Pie picks up the commonly found banana, whereas with Mav the nose reminds him of the banana foam sweets. Either way, you are getting a lot of bananas here. On the palate, you will find bundles of corn and a huge hit of oak/wood, with a reasonable amount of spice, even with the relatively low percentage of rye in the mash bill.
While this whiskey won’t blow your mind, and in our opinion should be about 20% cheaper to buy, it is well worth trying and we recommend it should you happen across a bottle.
