Premier Rock Forum

i wish it were true but it's not, that bourbon has to be made in KY. Virginia Gentlemen was made in VA (go figure) but it's commonly assumed that bourbon has to be made in KY. The reality though is that it's more about the mash that is made, gov't regulations around staight whiskey, gov't regulations around straight rye whiskey and what defines the process for making bourbon...rather than where it is distilled.

abcgroupdocumentation wrote:

Peripatetic wrote:
Thank you drew.


No problem, Peri. Every now and then, a lesson is so important that it needs to be taught twice.

Enjoy your lesson my friend(s), b/c Prof. ABC is hear to learn you a lesson:

TN whiskey is not bourbon for two reasons according to federal regulations: it's being made in TN and the fact that it is run through a 10 foot thick charcoal filtration column that takes out congeners and "jump starts the aging process." BTW, being made in TN doesn't imply that bourbon must be made in KY, just that TN whiskey must be made in TN (obviously).

So yes sour mash is the same process as bourbon (and is bourbon), in fact one could say that TN whiskey is bourbon up until the filtration process, which 1) alters the shit out of the flavor and 2) bumps up the aging process that otherwise naturally starts with bourbon aging.

This might seem like a technicality but it's not. Take Dickel (a far superior product to any Jack drivel) or Jack and compare it to any bourbon and you'll see the difference...night and day.

Read "Bourbon, Straight" by Charles Cowdery...a Chicagoan. The best and most authoritative book on bourbon you can find...and it's an incredibly friendly read.

27 C.F.R. Section 5.22 is the primary federal regulatory legal authority on the issue to which ABC is speaking.

Lookie here bitches.
Jack Daniels says on it's label that it's Tennessee Whiskey.
I could be wrong, but the two words Tennessee whiskey are not the same as bourbon.
Therefore, since Jack Daniels does not say bourbon on it's label, it's not bourbon.
Also from the Jack Daniels' website:

Jack Daniel's is not a Bourbon - it's a TENNESSEE WHISKEY. Jack Daniel's is dripped through ten feet of firmly packed charcoal (made from hard sugar maple) before going into new charred oak barrels for aging. This special process gives Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey its rare smoothness. It's this extra step - charcoal mellowing - which makes Jack Daniel's a Tennessee Whiskey.

'Tevs.

so now that you know that Jack is not bourbon, you should also know that it's not good.

Drink George Dickel instead...the Select bottle is where it's at...about $32 a bottle and a real stand out.

do a blind taste test of any Dickel product vs. Jack and you'll nail the Dickel every time.

abcgroupdocumentation wrote:nail the Dickel

I would see this band.


Edit - Actually on hindsight it sounds like something Bob Rock would tell a band he is producing to do.

cwiko wrote:Plus Jack tastes like rotted assholes.

I agree, but we must not forget that at least eighty percent of classic rock riffs was fueled by the stuff.

It could have been so much better!

Jack.

abcgroupdocumentation wrote:so now that you know that Jack is not bourbon, you should also know that it's not good.

Drink George Dickel instead...the Select bottle is where it's at...about $32 a bottle and a real stand out.

do a blind taste test of any Dickel product vs. Jack and you'll nail the Dickel every time.

Tennessee whiskey is bourbon under the above-cited regulation. Throughout Jack's history, it has litigated in courts and lobbied Congress to receive distinction for its marketable uniqueness. In fact, some of its landmark litigation has been against "bourbon" producers from Kentucky who market their products for using the same charcoal filtration technique as Jack. Jack lost those cases. And that was four decades ago. And former distinctions in the federal statutes no longer exist. And you can read the regulation yourself. Note that bourbon made in Tennessee is technically Tennessee whiskey under the law. Sayin'. Obviously, it would be illegal for a Kentucky bourbon producer to call its product Tennessee whiskey, just as it would be illegal for a Virginia bourbon producer to call its product Kentucky bourbon. Any present-day defintional distinction between bourbon and Tennessee whiskey is nominal and based on local popular-cultural traditions. For example, because bourbon is an American invention under domestic and international law, often Tennessee whiskey is mentioned alongside the term bourbon in international trade agreements. This is probably as much proof as anything of the true identity of Tennessee whiskey.

I'm a gin drinker anyway. I've maybe had 12 ounces of Jack's take on bourbon in my life.