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We Know Jack By Sandra Scott |
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So it was Jack and Coke for us - two ounces of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey poured over an ice-filled glass and topped off with Coca-Cola. While sipping our Jack and Coke “slow and easy – Jack Daniel’s way,” John and I decided that we needed to visit the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg, 75 miles south of Nashville. So, off we went.
The tour started where the charcoal needed for the essential mellowing process is made. The water comes from the same Cave Spring Jack used. In fact, the whiskey is still made Jack Daniel’s way. “No reason to kick a pulling mule,” explained Goose. We toured the whiskey stills, the fermenting tanks, and charcoal-mellowing vat. The smell of mash made us yearn for a sip. But, alas, in the ironies of ironies, Lynchburg is a dry town. The only whiskey sipping in the distillery is done by the official tasters. Goose explained, “The tasters have to spit it out. If I was a taster I’d have to learn to spit backwards.”
After the tour we ventured over to Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House where Jack took many a noonday meal and where, by invitation, one can participate in whiskey tasting. And, yup, based on our tasting, we are sure that Sinatra was most likely a Single Barrel guy. |
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It was good advice. Even early in the evening,
Tootsies is a happening place. When we arrived, a band was belting
out country favorites. I noticed that the non-beer drinkers were
sipping what I thought was coke but friends quickly educated us.
“This is Tennessee - Jack and Coke country.”
“Goose,” our overall-clad Jack Daniel’s guide
had a repertoire of country witticisms and personal interest stories
that made the tour great entertainment. Jack Daniel left home at the
age of six and was raised by a minister named Dan Call who was the
owner of a whiskey still. It was there that Jack learned to make
whiskey. According to Goose, the townsfolk told Call to make a
choice between ministering and whiskey making. Call answered the
call of the ministry and became Jack’s “spiritual advisor” by
turning the distillery business over to 13-year-old Jack.
Five-feet-two-inch-tall Jack Daniel was a
colorful character who was astute enough to sell his whiskey to both
the North and the South during the Civil War and to register his
distillery in 1866, making it the oldest registered distillery in
the United States. He gained national attention at the 1904 St.
Louis World’s Fair and Centennial Exposition when his whiskey won
the World’s Fair Gold Medal for the best whiskey. Possibly Jack
Daniel’s Old #7 got its signature name from the World’s Fair. It
seems the first seven barrels sent to St. Louis went missing so
seven more were sent, when the first seven were located they were
marked as the “Old #7.” It is only one theory, but the one that
Goose favors and so do we.
Jack may not have kicked a pulling mule, but he
did kick his safe in frustration when he couldn’t master the
combination. At first his sore toe was just an annoyance, then
gangrene set in and eventually led to his death. Normally the safe
was opened by one of the office workers but that day Jack got to
work before his staff. Goose advised, “The moral is never get to
work early.” But it is always important to show up for work on the
last Friday of the month, which Goose explained was “Good Friday.”
One of the perks for the 400 Jack Daniel’s employees is a bottle of
Jack Daniel handed out on the last Friday of the month.
Frank Sinatra took brand loyalty to new
heights. Legend has it he was buried with a Jack Daniel miniature
in his pocket. We wondered which Jack Daniel was his favorite – the
Single Barrel, the Old No. 7 Black Label, Gentleman Jack, or Jack
Daniel’s Old No. 7 Green Label. Somehow, I think Sinatra was a
“Single Barrel” kind of guy. Single Barrel whiskey is bottled from a
barrel from the upper floor of the massive warehouse. The oak
barrels are not rotated, so barrels located on the upper floors are
deemed the best.