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Dickel No. 12 and Jack Daniels Old No. 7 by F. Sot Fitzgerald The other night I was in a classy restaurant. Eyeballing their cocktail and liquor list, I laughed. "Look!" I said, leaning nearly into the lap of a woman I had just met, "They screwed up. They have Jack Daniels listed as a Bourbon." She looked at me confused, and returned to her drink. I slinked back on to my stool and let her be. Since I couldn't tell her that all Bourbon is American whiskey but not all American whiskey is Bourbon, I'll tell you. And if you know this already, well, then, skip ahead. Bourbon is a type of American whiskey. By law Bourbon must be made from 51% corn and it must be aged in new charred white oak barrels. Contrary to what some folks say, Bourbon does not have to be made in Kentucky to be Bourbon (it's not like Champagne, which must be made in Cham...you get the point). Jack Daniels and George Dickel are Tennessee whiskies. What makes a whisk(e)y a Tennessee whisk(e)y is filtration, about which more is said below. |
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Jack Daniels Old No. 7
(86
proof) is made of corn, rye, barley malt and "iron-free" water.
It's
filtered (poured) through charcoal before going into barrel. It's
ridiculously popular
but is a good whiskey. It tastes of caramel, some vanilla on
nose,
and charred wood close.
Very nice, but golly is it sweet! Still, it's a good place to start if you are new to whiskey. Just don't stay there forever. (Rating***1/2) |
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George
Dickel No. 12, though less likely to appeal to whisky (note the
"e"-less
Scottish spelling of Whisky that Dickel uses) novices, is superior to
Jack
Daniels Old No. 7. It's distilled from corn, barley and rye, and
as they note, it has "no preservatives, dyes, or strange
ingredients
you can't pronounce." It is double distilled then charcoal
filtered
through sugar maple before being "chill-mellowed" for 7-10
days.
What's chill mellowing? I'll let the folks at Dickel speak for themselves: "Somewhere along the way, George discovered that the batches of whisky he tasted during the winter months were noticeably smoother than the ones from warmer seasons. George learned that the chilled whisky became more viscous (thick), so it filtered more cleanly. This produced an extraordinarily smooth-bodied whisky. He called the process chill-mellowing." Then it's plopped into
charred American white oak barrels and aged for no less than 8
years. It's
just slightly darker
than JD
No. 7 and much more complex. It has notes of honey, barrel, nuts,
and a spearmint spiciness. (Rating****1/4) |
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