We have 2 bottles of bourbon in the cabinet at the request of our bourbon drinking friends; Makers Mark and Buffalo Trace.
Jack is a bourbon. Their marketing tries to differentiate it.
Jack Daniels is produced in Tennessee, it cannot be a bourbon. If it is not produced in Kentucky it is not bourbon. There might be some laws about this.
This is some communist bull****. If it uses the same ingredients and same process getting similar results, insisting that it be called something else because its not made in a certain location is the bull**** that the EU started to protect certain cabals.
Bourbon is a subset of whiskey. So all bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is bourbon. Like a square/rectangle thing.
My wife bought me a 10 yr Rip Van Winkle and a 15 yr Pappy several years before their boom happened and prices soared. We share the same last name so she thought it would be a good present. I liked the 10 yr better than the 15. The 15 yr was 53.5%.Makers, Buffalo Trace, etc. are good choices. Bookers, IMHO, is by far the best widely-available bourbon. Pappy Van Winkle is generally acknowledged to be in a class by itself, and, if you ever find some and can justify the cost, should be tried at least once.
On the opposite end of the scale, especially if you're mixing, it's hard to argue with the price of 90-proof Ezra Brooks.
Different process... Jack Daniels uses charcoal filtering therefore it is not bourbon.
And that's fine, I never said Jack was bourbon....I merely said that if the only difference is that it's not made in a certain set of zip codes, it's BS to claim it can't be named bourbon. I realize certain lawmakers have codified that into law, but it's still lame.
Jack Daniels is produced in Tennessee, it cannot be a bourbon. If it is not produced in Kentucky it is not bourbon. There might be some laws about this.
This is some communist bull****. If it uses the same ingredients and same process getting similar results, insisting that it be called something else because its not made in a certain location is the bull**** that the EU started to protect certain cabals.
Different process... Jack Daniels uses charcoal filtering therefore it is not bourbon.
You should really read the article I posted (even if it's a Wiki article"
"On a federal level, what constitutes Tennessee whiskey is legally established under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)[SUP][1][/SUP] and at least one other international trade agreement[SUP][2][/SUP] that require that Tennessee whiskey be "a straight Bourbon Whiskey authorized to be produced only in the State of Tennessee". Canadian food and drug laws [SUP][3][/SUP] state that Tennessee whiskey must be "a straight Bourbon whisky produced in the State of Tennessee"."
So yeah, it's not bourbon because it's not produced in Kentucky, but the legal definition of Tennessee whiskey is that it is a "bourbon whiskey produced exclusively in the state of Tennessee."
Jack Daniel's is Tennessee whiskey, which essentially means it's bourbon, but because it's not produced in Kentucky it can't be called that - thus, Tennessee whiskey.
Jack not a bourbon
The Federal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits (27 C.F.R.5) state that bourbon made for U.S. consumption[SUP][18][/SUP] must be:
- Produced in the United States[SUP][19][/SUP]
- Made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn[SUP][20][/SUP]
- Aged in new, charred oak barrels[SUP][20][/SUP]
- Distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume)[SUP][20][/SUP]
- Entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume)[SUP][20][/SUP]
- Bottled (like other whiskeys) at 80 proof or more (40% alcohol by volume)[SUP][21][/SUP]
If you like Makers, you should give Weller 12 a try. It's another wheated bourbon, similar to Makers.Jack sucks, so I don't know why it's being talked about regardless of what it is.
Personally, I go with Makers Mark or Woodford Reserve.