The Ballad of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Special Release Tennessee Rye
JDSBSR Tennesee Rye Whiskey
For most collectors, the idea of Jack Daniel’s making a whiskey that gets the nerds excited is not even comprehensible. But here we are with an absolute hitter of a cask strength rye from the top selling whiskey producer on the planet. For those keeping score at home Jack Daniel’s is the most sold whiskey worldwide by volume.
The top selling bourbon worldwide is Jim Beam white label. The top selling bourbon in the U.S. alone is Evan Willams white label. So Brown Forman’s Jack Daniel’s Old Number 7 (black label) is top of the food chain overall for whiskey sales.
Jack Daniel’s 5th Rye Release
Now that we’ve got that out the way, this is very much a well crafted rye. The charcoal mellowing, Lincoln County Process that Jack is famous for actually strips corn aromas and barrel astringency from the finished product.
It’s very much akin the ‘beechwood aging’ Budweiser is known for..these steps are design to remove flavor from the finished offering. Jack Daniels reps refer to it as ‘removing the peanuts from the Snickers to create a Milky Way’.
JDSBSRBPR is the Lynchburg, TN crew’s fifth rye release. Unaged Rye (2012, Rested Rye (2014) Single Barrel Rye (2016) and Tennesee Rye (2017) This 2020 release is in single barrel form with proofs ranging from 125-140. Barrels were aged at the highest floors in the rickhouse.
Louisville, Kentucky
For what it’s worth, the Four Gate Whiskey Company’s River Kelvin Rye Cask Strength Straight Rye Whiskey by comparison is a much more well integrated product. Theres no sharp edges of oak or decadent fruit cake notes like the JD Rye.
The 95% Rye, 5% Malted Barley of the Four Gate is more about mint, lemon zest, and slight hints of dill in a very balanced and seamless offering.
The company is releasing this whiskey with no barrel finish for a reason. They plan to offer at least two different finishing styles over the next year. The plan is to let customers taste the base rye as well as finished releases in the future.
Four Gate River Kelvin Rye. Cask Strength. Aged 7 Yrs.
Other Notes
Only 1484 bottles of the River Kelvin Rye were produced at 113.2 proof.
We compared Jack Daniel’s Special Reserve Barrel Proof Rye to the Four Gate Cask Strength River Kelvin Rye on Episode 46 of The Neat Pour Podcast.
Afro Beer Chick. One Half of The Neat Pour Podcast
Podcast Ep. 47 It’s All About the Rye