While in Nashville we drove a bit south to visit the Jack Daniel Distillery.  We learned a lot about whiskey and in particular Jack Daniel’s whiskey.  Jack Daniel lived in the mid-1800s and when he was 8 he left home where he didn’t get along with his stepmother and lived with a minister and his family.  The minister also owned a small store and made whiskey to sell in his store.  Jack learned the art of making whiskey from this minister.  When Jack was 14 the congregation went to the minister and said “You can either be our minister or you can make whiskey but you can’t do both”.  So, the minister sold the whiskey business to Jack.

Jack found an underground spring near the area where he lived and found the water especially clear and tasty.  He decided to use this water in his whiskey, and from 1884 until now, Jack Daniel whiskey has been made with ONLY that water.  At the entrance to the cave where the water comes from is a life-size statue of Jack Daniel, posed on some rocks.  As we snapped a picture our tour guide told us this was the only “free shot of Jack Daniels on the rocks” we would ever get!

There’s just that one distillery that has been continually in use since 1884.  And, a specific type of tree local to the area is used for the charcoal used in filtering the whiskey.  The whiskey soaks through 10 feet of charcoal, taking 5-7 days.  This part of the process is to get the oils from the barley and other ingredients out of the liquid.  Tasters continually taste the whiskey as it comes out of this process, and when they get the slightest hint of oil in the mix the charcoal is tossed out and the remaining whiskey that is soaking down through that batch is put through the filtering process again with new charcoal.

The oak barrels that hold the whiskey while it ages is also unique.  The barrels are made and then “fired” so the inside gets all blackened.  The whiskey is aged for several years in the barrel, without being moved or turned.  They have barrel warehouses all over the county to keep them separated – in case one catches on fire the others will not be burned.  There’s never been a fire, however, but there is a fire department at the distillery.

It was an informative and interesting tour.  The bottles that were on sale there were quite expensive however so we didn’t buy or taste anything.  As Jeff does like whiskey, he bought a bottle later…in a different county.  The distillery is located in Moore County which is a dry county…meaning you cannot purchase Jack Daniel whiskey anywhere around the distillery EXCEPT AT the distillery.

Here are pictures we took: