When the venerable Lynchburg, Tenn.-based brand Jack Daniel’s announces a brand extension, it’s a pretty big deal. For years, the company traded on basically a single product, the square bottle with the black label that was filled with 80-proof juice made using the same recipe and process that young Mr. Daniel reportedly learned from Nearest Green in the late 19th century. In recent years however, the Brown-Forman-owned distillery has gone on a bit of a binge with new products. After more than a century of trading solely on Old No. 7, Jack Daniel's released Gentleman Jack in 1988, a premium twice-mellowed version of their original. That was enough until more than a decade later, when they released Tennessee Honey.
That product’s very successful launch led to a binge of new products over the past few years, including Tennessee Fire, Sinatra Select, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Rye and several single-barrel offerings. As popular as Jack is in the U.S., 60 percent of the company's sales are international, and the latest brand extension is aimed directly at the travel market.
Jack Daniel’s Bottled-in-Bond is a 100-proof Tennessee whiskey that will officially hit the shelves of duty-free stores in airports around the world this summer. The concept of Bottled-in-Bond has been around since 1897 when a law was passed to offer assurances to consumers that the product in the bottle was actually premium whiskey, not rectified blends of all sorts of products including the rumors that some brown whiskeys were colored with tobacco juice. (Gag!)
The rules of Bottled-in-Bond require that the whiskey inside the bottle has come from one distillery and from production within one specific distillation season (January to June or July to December.) This means the producer can’t mingle younger whiskey with just enough aged product to offer color and flavor to the final product. The whiskey must be 100 proof and must be aged in a federally bonded warehouse under U.S. government supervision for at least four years.
These whiskeys are often the best bargains in a distillery, but they rarely leave the state where they are produced. (Pro user tip: That’s why I often hit the liquor store at the Franklin, Ky., exit of Interstate 65 to pick up some amazing bourbons for less than $20 a bottle.) Jack Daniel’s Bottled-in-Bond satisfies all the requirements, and in some ways this product will be a truer representation of the talents of the distillers. Jack is known for a very consistent product, the result of blending huge batches of barrels from different production runs aged in different warehouses to end up with the distinct vanilla/banana/caramel taste profile that made the brand famous.
In this edition, you’ll be tasting a cross-section of a specific year’s production, making this a unique product. While you’ll have to be at an airport to pick up a bottle, the $37.99 suggested retail price for a liter bottle is actually a bit of a bargain when you consider that while this is about a 15 percent upcharge over old No. 7, the proof number means you’ll actually be paying less based on the alcohol level. More good news: Most duty-free stores will pack your bottles in a sealed bag that is legal to carry on the plane with you, as long as you don’t try to take a swig until you unpack it at home. Or maybe in baggage claim. We won’t judge.
