Jack Daniel’s 10 Year Tennessee Whiskey
Spirit: Jack Daniel’s 10 Years Old Tennessee Whiskey
Distillery: Jack Daniel’s
Aged: 10 Years
Price: $70
Proof: 97
About Jack Daniel’s Distillery:
“Crafting something that endures for over 150 years takes time and character. You’ll find plenty of both in the people and history that make Jack Daniel’s.
In 1866, Jack Daniel Distillery was officially established, making it the very first registered distillery within the US, with Jack as the Master Distiller. The opening of his now-famous distillery would follow shortly thereafter, right next to Jack Daniel’s prime resource: the mineral-rich Cave Spring Hollow.
Jack Daniel’s is in an exciting new era of innovation that’s sure to please new and veteran whiskey enthusiasts alike.”
About the Jack Daniel’s 10 Year:
“It’s been 100 years or so since the Jack Daniel Distillery released a whiskey of 10 years of age or greater. Evolving Jack Daniel’s past aged-stated whiskey process, these Tennessee Whiskey barrels have been aging in the Buzzard’s Roost of our barrelhouse, and methodically relocated to the lower floors of different barrel houses to extend the aging process for the last 10 summers. The extreme weather variation at different locations in the barrel houses along with longevity in our handmade oak barrels creates an intense, unique character of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey.
Discover Jack Daniel’s 10 Year Old Tennessee Whiskey for yourself. We think you’ll agree, it’s well worth the wait.”
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Nose
(3)
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Palate
(4.5)
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Proof vs Heat
(4)
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Value
(4.5)
Summary
Nose: Caramelized bananas, charred oak, ethanol
Palate: Dried fruits and butterscotch, maraschino cherry, toasted brown sugar, oak
Finish: leather, banana, baking spice
Review: This is not your grandad’s Jack Daniel’s and, diving into this pour, it surprisingly exceeded my expectations. There is definitely a place for Jack Daniel’s No. 7, but, it has a very unique flavor profile that not all are fond of. One of the key steps in the Lincoln County Process is filtering fresh whiskey through charcoal chips, or “mellowing” as it is referred to by the distillery. This gives Tennessee Whiskey, specifically, Jack Daniel’s, a much deeper smoke and charred oak flavor than that of its bourbon counterparts. Jack Daniel’s 10 year does a great job of paying homage to its younger siblings but offering something entirely new.
My initial taste started off with the only (somewhat) negative thing that I had experienced this pour. The nose is very flavorful, offering a unique caramelized banana sweetness with oak pushing through. The problem is that it is followed by a very rough, and quite frankly, off-putting, ethanol bite. When I was trying to experience the depths the nose offered, it was hard to move past the slap-in-the-face that the ethanol was dishing out. It is a shame because I very much enjoyed finding the smell that reminded me of sitting down at Fogo de Chao and getting the little dish of bananas before getting the meat sweats. The palate was very thin but packed a punch of flavor. The delicious fruit and butterscotch (not like the candy more like fresh butterscotch pudding) really allowed the Lincoln County Process “smoke” flavor to shine without taking over as it typically does in the No.7 bottle. The finish was pleasant and rounded out the pour with a “bourbon-esque” leather flavor, a little more of the banana comes through, and the rye baking spices finalize (what I considered to be) a pretty fantastic pour. It was like sitting down with an old friend who you haven’t seen in years. They’ve matured. You’ve matured. It’s different, but similar, and very much for the better. I think that Jack Daniel’s fans can appreciate the complex flavors of this bottle offers, but still know that deep down, it’s your old friend Jack. And I think that people who aren’t too fond of Jack Daniel’s could find something special in this bottle, getting a lot more of the traditional bourbon flavors with the tradition of Jack still peeking through this bottle. Cheers!
Chris first became affiliated with Whiskey Culture when he met Greg at one of their regular hangouts, Whiskey Willy’s in Tampa, FL.
Their mutual love for whiskey and connecting with other whiskey enthusiasts quickly spurred a great friendship between them. Chris and Greg would share samples, and hunt bottles for each other as their travels took them around the country.
Chris regularly attended Whiskey Culture events, and was even invited to sit on the tasting panel for Whiskey Culture’s first private barrel pick!
Now in Philadelphia, Chris is a regular contributor for Whiskey Culture writing op-ed pieces and bottle reviews.
Write about how this was extorted by the sellers and you won’t find a bottle for the 70.00 price, try 300.00 to 800.00. so to sum up, most people don’t stand a chance to taste this!
I agree. I haven’t been able to find one but our contributor happened to run into one at MSRP at his local store. I think it’s just about luck at that point.
When is the JD10 coming to Georgia?
Hi Chris.
I just saw your blog on Jack Daniel’s 10 year. Nice article but I am very disappointed with the distillery. I am long time Tennessee Squire and member of the Gentleman Jack Association.
Not only was I not notified of its release, only a few bottles made it to select retailers. WORSE, the $70 retail where available went from $180 to over $400. What a disgrace.
How disappointing to see this greed hitting most of us loyal purveyors of JD.
Just thought I’d pass that on to you. Thank you for listening.
Charles F Samuel, Sr.
Mt Airy, Maryland
I totally understand how frustrating that is. Especially for a Squire member.
I hope you find a bottle! I wasn’t able to get one, but Chris our contributor was lucky enough to find one and write the review. I still haven’t had it yet.
Good luck, my friend!
– Greg Sinadinos
I also a squire of JD had problems getting 1.. When I got a call from local store they had 1 I ran and got it.. Cost of 92$. Glad I finally got 1 for my own collection
My local Liquer Store was fortunate enough to get 4 bottles of the 10yr and it sure wasn’t $70 a bottle, I paid $216 and was told it’s very doubtful they would get another delivery of it. Tried registering it to get the provenance to go with the bottle for the collection and of course it’s not listed in the directory of bottles to do so.