In planning our trip, we knew we wanted to visit the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky and the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. We hadn't really planned out anything specific but we were in Tennessee first, so we headed out to our first Distillery tour, George Dickel in Cascade Hollow followed by Jack Daniels in Lynchburg.
They both produce Tennessee whiskey which is different than Kentucky whiskey or bourbon. We learned that bourbon is always whiskey but whiskey isn't always bourbon. It depends on the ingredients and ratios used to make the mash and it's all regulated by the Federal government and Tennessee law. Tennessee whiskey is filtered with sugar maple charcoal - it's done that way by law and it's supposed to remove impurities in the whiskey.
The entire distilling process seems complicated but pretty much the same for all whiskey. Simply, they cook the grains, (corn, rye, malted barley) creating a mixture called "mash", add yeast, let it ferment, then transfer to the copper stills where it is heated (like huge pressure cookers), and the alcohol is collected from the vapor and then the alcohol is aged in charred oak barrels.
Here's a picture of the basic process - except between step 4 and 5, before it's barreled, Dickel & Daniels filters the whiskey through a maple charcoal to remove impurities. This part of the process is what makes Dickel and Daniels "Tennessee Whiskey".
They both age the whiskey in charred oak barrels for at least 3 years and the longer the better. Both had barrels of whiskey that were aged for 15 years +. The color of the whiskey before aging in charred oak barrels, is white like moonshine. When whiskey is aged it becomes a light ice tea or light golden maple syrup color - it's beautiful. When served in a pretty glass...magical.
Dickel mash is a ratio of 8 % rye, 8% malted barley and 84% corn and Jack Daniels uses a a ratio of 8% rye, 12% malted barely and 80% corn. Also, just like sourdough bread starter, both Distilleries have a yeast starter is from the original yeast from back in the early 1800's. To preserve and protect their starter, Dickel stores it at 7 different vaults all over the country. Diickel also spells their whiskey "whisky" leaving out "e" which is the Scottish spelling. Dickel believes their whisky to be as fine as aged Scottish whisky, which at the time was considered the best in the world.
The tours were vastly different but the processes and whiskey smells were similar. In the Barrel Aging houses the vapors that escape are called "angels share" and it smelled heavenly like maple, oak and vanilla - delicious.
Also, both distilleries won't allow photos inside their buildings. Top Secret processes! Although, if you look online, there's a lot of "bootleg" photos. (no pun intended!)
Dickel's tour was intimate and we felt like we were invited into a special viewing of the process and a private tasting. We only had 12 people on our tour and was led by the guy who works the store, the post office and conducted the tasting. They only have 29 employees in the whole company, and only use computers for quality control tracking. Employees were everywhere on the tour, working and inspecting the process. They don't use computers for anything except quality control. Dickel believes that people, not computers, can taste and smell the nuances of the product. We even bumped into the Master Distiller and didn't even recognize him. He's the guy in the black shirt in this picture.
Our Dickel tasting was in the original Master Distillers home, a small cabin, which made the tasting more special and personal. The location of the Dickel Distillery was in Cascade Hollow and we rode through lots of countryside to get there. Nothing but land and a few houses surrounded the distillery.
Contrast Dickel with Daniels. Jack Daniels is in a bustling touristy town of Lynchburg. Lots of souvenir shops and restaurants. The Distillery is huge with over 400 employees and we had 25 people on our tour. They have a huge museum of artifacts telling the story of Jack Daniels. We only saw distillery workers in the charcoal making area and they looked creepy & grumpy!
Think about the movie Deliverance...redneck and scary. Maybe they were just having a bad day, but they didn't smile or acknowledge our presence. No other employees were anywhere on the tour but we did see lots of computers. Our tour guide was humorous and funny and it was generally a good tour but it felt a little like Disneyland, contrived and commercial. The Daniels Museum was very well done and I learned a lot about distilling and prohibition.
Here's a fun fact; Jack Daniels gives away their whiskey for free but you have to buy the bottle. That's how they get around the fact that they are located in a dry county. Just like Utah, they figure out a way around the silly liquor laws
Both locations send the finished whiskey elsewhere for bottling with the exception of Jack Daniels Single Barrel which we saw bottled, corked, labeled and boxed. That was fun to see the production.
Both Distilleries offered tasting at the end of the tour which we loved. We tried four whisky's at Dickel white or moonshine, single barrel, No. 12 and Rye. All were delicious and it was fun to try them side-by-side. I'm a fan of Dickel rye and Single Barrel both were delicious and smooth.
At Daniels we had No.7 Black Label, Gentleman Jack and Single Barrel and I liked Gentleman Jack and Single Barrel. The tasting at Daniels felt a little factory like and was conducted in a big meeting room and I didn't take any pictures of our tasting. I did like meeting our good friend Jack Daniels and had our picture taken with him.
Both men, George Dickel and Jack Daniels, were visionaries and we're fortunate that they weathered the prohibition storm and that we can enjoy their spirits today.
After touring and tasting both Jack Daniels and George Dickel, what I believe is that Dickel focuses on the quality and taste of the product and Jack Daniels focuses on the culture and history of the product. It was fun to visit both of them, learn about the distilling process and to taste the whiskeys. If you are ever in that area be sure to make time to visit them. If you only have time for one tour, choose George Dickel for a more personal and remarkable experience.
We purchased a bottle of Dickel Single Barrel signed by the master distiller.
We thought it was a great souvenier to remember our time in Cascade Hollow. At the Tennessee State HOG Rally we also purchased a Single Barrel Jack Daniels another way to remember our Jack Daniels Tour and the HOG Rally. I'm looking forward to tasting both side-by-side when we get home.
We didn't make it to Bourbon Trail in Kentucky, we decided to save that for another time.
However, from our tours and tastings, what I've learned is that if you only know Jack, you don't know Dickel and trust me after my tour and tasting, I know Jack and love Dickel!
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