Jack Daniel's

Infobox Company
name = Jack Daniel Distillery, Lem Motlow Prop, Inc.

type = Private
foundation = Lynchburg, Tennessee, U.S., 1875
founder = Jack Daniel
location_city = Lynchburg, Tennessee
location_country = U.S.
location =
locations =
area_served =
key_people = Jack Daniel (Founder)
Jeff Arnett (7th Master Distiller)
industry = Manufacturing and Distillation of Liquors
products = Distilled and Blended Liquors
services =
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income = $121,700,000
owner =
num_employees = 365
parent = Brown-Forman Corporation
divisions =
subsid =
slogan =
homepage = [http://www.jackdaniels.com/ JackDaniels.com]
footnotes = Infobox nrhp
name =Jack Daniel Distillery
nrhp_type =


caption =
location =TN 55
Lynchburg, Tennessee
nearest_city =
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added = September 14, 1972
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum = 72001248
mpsub =
governing_body =

Jack Daniel's is a brand of Tennessee whiskey which is among the world's best-selling liquors and is known for its square bottles and black label. [cite web|url= http://www.fool.com/news/associated-press/2007/12/16/whiskey-maker-apologizes-for-shortage.aspx|title=Whiskey Maker Apologizes for Shortage|accessdate=2008-07-25|date=2007-12-16 |work=Associated Press |publisher=Associated Press ] Jack Daniel's is consumed in shots, neat, on the rocks and as an ingredient in several cocktails. It has been prominently featured in movies, songs, and even novels, and is strongly linked to rock and roll, country music, American biker culture, Frank Sinatra, and Slash. [Kaufman, A., Ortenberg, N., & Rosset, B. (2004). "The Outlaw Bible of American Literature". New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.] [Plasketes, G. (1997). "Images of Elvis Presley in American Culture, 1977–1997: The Mystery Terrain". [Binghamton] , New York: Haworth Press.] [Sherrill, R. A. (2000). "Road-book America: Contemporary Culture and the New Picaresque". Urbana: University of Illinois Press.] [Adams, D. R. (2002). "Rock 'n' Roll and the Cleveland Connection". Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press.] [Brant, M. (2002). "Freebirds: The Lynyrd Skynyrd Story" New York: Billboard Books.] The brand is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee by Jack Daniel Distillery, which has been owned by the Brown-Forman beverage company since 1956. [cite web|url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,836197,00.html| title=Slight Change of Recipe|accessdate=2008-07-25| date=1966-08-05 |work=Time Magazine |publisher=Time Magazine ]

History

Early

According to the Jack Daniel's web site, founder Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel was born in September, 1850, although seemingly no one knows the exact date because the birth records were destroyed in a courthouse fire. If the 1850 date is correct, he may have become a licensed distiller at the age of 16, as the distillery claims a founding date of 1866. Other records list his birthdate as September 5, 1846, and in his 2004 biography "Blood & Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel" author Peter Krass maintains that land and deed records show the distillery was actually not founded until 1875. Daniel was one of thirteen children, of Welsh and Scottish descent.

Because Jack Daniel never married, and he did not have any children, he took his favorite nephew, Lem Motlow, under his wing. Lem had a head for numbers and was soon doing all of the distillery's bookkeeping. In 1907, due to failing health, Jack Daniel gave the distillery to his nephew.

Jack died in 1911 from blood poisoning that resulted from an infection. The infection allegedly began in one of his toes, which Daniel injured one early morning at work by kicking his safe in anger when he could not get it open (he was said to always have had trouble remembering the combination). [Freeth, N. (2005). Made in America: from Levis to Barbie to Google. St. Paul, MN: MBI.]

When the company was later incorporated, it was incorporated as "Jack Daniel Distillery, Lem Motlow, Prop., Inc." This has allowed the company to continue to include Lem Motlow, who died in 1947, in their marketing, as mentioning him in the advertising is technically just citing the full corporate name. Likewise, the advertisements continue to say that Lynchburg has only 361 people, while the official (2000 census) population is 5,740. This is allowable because the entire label was trademarked in the early 1960s when this figure was the actual population cited by the Census Bureau; changing the label would require applying for a new trademark or forfeiting trademark protection. It should be noted, however, that the census population includes all of Moore County, as the county and city governments are consolidated. Interestingly enough, Moore County, where the Jack Daniel's distillery is located, is one of the state's many dry counties. Therefore, while it is legal to distill the product within the county, it is illegal to purchase it there. However, a state law has provided one exception: a distillery may sell one commemorative product, regardless of county statutes. [The Tennessee Legislature passed a 1994 special act for selling commemorative decanters containing Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey on January 2, 1995.] Jack Daniel's now sells Gentleman Jack and Jack Daniel's Single Barrel at the distillery's White Rabbit Bottle Shop.

Tennessee ("sour mash") whiskey has been filtered through sugar maple charcoal in large wooden vats prior to aging. [Axelrod, A. (2003). The complete idiot's guide to mixing drinks. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha.] Tennessee whiskey, by definition, is not Bourbon whiskey as defined by Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 1, Part 5, Section 5.22. [cite web|title=Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 1, Part 5, Section 5.22|url=http://www.distill.com/specs/USA10.html]

According to their web site, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey is made using pure cave spring water from a hollow next to the distillery. This is generally believed to be the reason the distillery location was originally chosen and why it is still there today. [ [http://www.jackdaniels.com/JackDaniel/] November 16, 2007 Spring Water for Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey]

Tennessee Squire

A Tennessee Squire is a member of the Tennessee Squire Association, which was formed in 1956 to honor special friends of the Jack Daniel's distillery. Many prominent business and entertainment professionals are included among the membership, which is obtained only through recommendation of a current member. Squires receive a wallet card and deed certificate proclaiming them as "owner" of an unrecorded plot of land at the distillery and an honorary citizen of Moore County, Tennessee.

21st century

In October 2004, it was announced that all generally-available Jack Daniel's products would thenceforth be bottled at 80 U.S. proof (40% alcohol by volume), which is the highest proof allowed in some US jurisdictions; this also simplified the production process. (This reduction in alcohol content was condemned by "Modern Drunkard Magazine"). Previously, the famous black-label brand (the better-quality, higher-priced product) had been 86 proof, where legal, while the lower-end green label was 80 proof; these marked reductions from the previous practice of bottling the black-label product at 90 proof and the green-label product at 86. Both are made from the same ingredients; the difference is determined by professional tasters who determine which of the batches will be graded out as worthy of being labelled with the prestigious black label, the rest being sold under the green label.

Additionally, Jack Daniels was included in the passing of legislation to change the proofing formula of all alcohols (distilled and non) from the British method to the 1:1 United States conversion method making all other versions and methods obsolete as of 1/1/2005.

In 2006, Jack Daniel's sponsored the team Jack Daniel's Racing in the Australian V8 Supercar series. Also in 2006, Jack Daniel's sponsored the number 07 car (numbered after the "Old No. 7") in NASCAR, driven by Clint Bowyer for Richard Childress Racing.

Product name

According to the Jack Daniel's website, Daniel's reason for naming his whiskey "Old No. 7" remains a mystery, because no one had thought to ask him.But due to popular belife the whiskey we drink today is based on the 7th generation whiskey that he created [http://www.jackdaniels.com/stories.asp]

Master distillers

Jeff Arnett, a company employee since 2001, became Jack Daniel's master distiller in 2008. He is the seventh person to hold the position in the distillery's history. His predecessor, Jimmy Bedford, held the position for 20 years but retired after allegations of sexual harassment were made against him. ["Suit filed against whiskey distiller" [http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jun/24/suit-filed-against-whiskey-distiller/] ] Jack Daniel himself was the first to take care of these duties. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2008_April_2/ai_n24968392 Jack Daniel's Names Jeff Arnett as New Master Distiller] , "Business Wire", April 2, 2008]

References

Further reading

*Axelrod, A. (2003). The complete idiot's guide to mixing drinks. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha.
*Waymack, M. H., & Harris, J. F. (1995). The book of classic American whiskeys. Chicago, Ill: Open Court.
* Krass, P. (2004). Blood and whiskey: the life and times of Jack Daniel. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

External links

* [http://www.jackdaniels.com/home.asp Official website]
* [http://www.knology.net/~jparkes/genealogy/mooretn/jdaniel/web/d738.htm Jack Daniel's family genealogy]
* [http://www.alcoholreviews.com/SPIRITS/jackdaniels.html "An Interview with Jimmy Bedford, Distiller, Jack Daniels,"] AlcoholReviews.com.
* [http://www.vic.com/tnchron/class/JD.htm The story of ‘Jack’ Daniel]
* [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003740931_whiskeybarrels09.html?syndication=rss Building a better barrel] - "Associated Press" June 6, 2007