On a Whiskey Trail: How I Finally ‘Met’ the Iconic Jack (Daniels)

As the legendary whiskey Jack Daniels turns 150 this year, I remember the ‘high’ and happy Tennessee Whiskey Trail.

“Some things you won’t find in Lynchburg: Mobile coverage, McDonalds, Walmart”.

I’m in one of the most charming small towns in Tennessee, in the American South –except, this is no nondescript town and has over 280,000 visitors from the world over.

The most important claim to fame?

Lynchburg is home to one of the world’s most popular whiskey brands – Jack Daniels. (Of course, the locals try hard to ensure this international fame does not rob Lynchburg of its old-world charm.)

The Many Charms of Whiskey Making

Chris Fletcher is the Assistant master blender at Jack Daniels and has clocked more air miles than any Lynchburg local. His international whiskey workshops have also brought him to Delhi. In fact, he talks about his love for Indian food even before my tour of the Jack Daniels distillery begins!

The first stop – the rickyard where two seasoned experts burn down sugar maple wood to make the famous charcoal to mellow the whiskey drop by drop. It’s this process that is popularly known as the ‘Lincoln County Process’ and is the only difference between Tennessee whiskey and what we know as a Bourbon whiskey.

The next stop is the underground cave spring – the source of the iron-free water that almost runs year round at a temperature of 13 degrees centigrade. (The spring is also home to the iconic Jack Daniels statue where I pose for the mandatory ‘I met Jack’ photograph.)

Lynchburg is full of legends about Jack. Particularly one about how he was mentored by a local lay preacher and moonshine distiller (Dan Call) and his master distiller Nearis (once an enslaved African American man who continued to work even after emancipation).

I walked into Jack’s original office where his infamous safe gets a lot of attention – one local tale suggests he kicked his safe in a fit of anger (he forgot the combination) and developed gangrene that eventually resulted in his demise in 1911.

The distillery walkthrough took me past whiskey stills, fermenting tanks and charcoal-mellowing vats (that lend Tennessee whiskey a slightly smoother finish). My favourite space in the distillery is the barrelhouse that is home to more than 20,000 barrels of whiskey. The slightly extreme weather in Tennessee (and in Kentucky) ensures that the region’s whiskeys age much quicker than Scotch whiskey – a one-year old American whiskey can be equated to a 3 or 4-year-old Scotch.

Ending on a ‘High’

Like all whiskey tours, there’s always a happy ending – a sampling session where the brand’s iconic JD no:7 is always in the mix. The tasting room at the distillery is about the only place in the county where you can have a drink – Lynchburg is actually located in a dry county; no kidding!

Prohibition in the US might have been repealed in 1933 (with the passing of the 21st amendment) but Moore County has ironically opted to stay dry.

Not all distilleries are in dry counties! I visited the Leiper’s Fork distillery – my first ever preview of a whiskey distillery, that is all set to welcome visitors from the end of this year. This brand new distillery aims to recreate the 19th century legends and magic around Tennessee whiskey.

A day later I met Heath Clark, a hotshot lawyer who has just set up a boutique distillery that produces small batch whiskeys in Thompson Station a small town near Franklin. His whiskeys have already developed a cult following in the US.

Tennessee whiskey is in the midst of its biggest boom – Jack Daniels no:7 is now Britain’s single largest selling label (not Scotch!) and is available in 160 countries. The seeds for this boom were probably sown in the 1950s by Frank Sinatra who called it the nectar of the gods; he was buried with a flask of Jack Daniels!

Getting there and around: Almost all distilleries along the Tennessee whiskey trail are within two hours’ drive from Nashville that is connected with frequent flights from across the US. You can hire a car (like I did) to drive around.

(Note: You can drive with a valid Indian license in Tennessee).

Accommodation: Stay at Nashville’s iconic Hermitage hotel (www.thehermitagehotel.com) that is also home to the legendary Oak Room bar – or check into the Drury Plaza at Franklin (www.druryhotels.com).

(Ashwin Rajagopalan enjoys communicating across boundaries in his three distinct roles as a widely published lifestyle writer, one of India’s only cross cultural trainers and a consultant for a global brand services firm. Ashwin writes extensively on travel, food, technology and trends.)