Jack Daniels Distillery Tour

The last thing we did before leaving Manchester, Tennessee, was take a tour of the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in nearby Lynchburg. Dan and I have been to many wine tastings, vineyards, and wineries, and a handful of beer breweries, but this was our first tour of a whiskey distillery. Jack Daniel’s authentic Tennessee whiskey is the top-selling American whiskey in the world and all of it is produced in Lynchburg, at this distillery. (Ironically, Lynchburg itself is in a dry county, so the whiskey cannot be purchased at stores or restaurants within Moore County.) Packaged in square bottles, Jack Daniel’s “Black Label” Tennessee whiskey sold 12.5 million cases in 2017, with other brand variations totaling another 2.9 million.

I really enjoyed our tour, and I’m sure a lot of that was because of our very lively tour guide. He was knowledgeable, witty, authentically Tennessean, and took us on a very thorough exploration of the facility, and provided us a dynamic history of Jack Daniels, the man, and a primer on whiskey making. We learned how the mash is made from corn, rye and malted barley distilled in copper stills. We saw the stacks of sugar maple hardwood that are doused in raw unaged whiskey and set ablaze to create charcoal pellets used in the “mellowing” process. We saw the on-site Cave Spring Hollow, a natural spring inside a cave, that draws 800 gallons of water from miles below the earth’s surface every minute, and is the whiskey’s lifeblood. In 1884 Jack Daniels purchased Cave Spring Hollow and its surrounding land for $2,148, which at the time was considered a huge fortune.

Finally, we toured portions of the bottling and packaging facility, and last but definitely not least, we were able to have a Jack Daniel’s tasting experience. Our guide walked us through a flight of five varieties of whiskey, giving us information about the production of each, how long it was aged, instructing us on how to appreciate the aromas, and sip it properly. Ironically, even though you cannot purchase whiskey in stores and restaurants in Lynchburg, you can buy it in “collectible bottles” in the on-site distillery gift shop. How convenient!