If you know anything at all about Jack Daniel’s, you know that Jack Daniel’s makes Tennessee Whiskey — not bourbon. Even over the past decade as the entire world lost its mind for bourbon, Jack Daniel’s has stood strong and resisted the urge to slap a bourbon label on any of its bottles just for the sake of satisfying the market. But I’m going to let you in on a little secret: Just because Jack Daniel’s doesn’t market its whiskey as bourbon, that doesn’t mean it isn’t bourbon.
What is bourbon?
Different types of spirits have different requirements, in different countries, to be labeled a certain way. Scotch needs to be distilled from malted barley in Scotland, while also adhering to a handful of other rules. Tequila? That can only legally be produced in five Mexican states and its distillate has to contain at least 51 percent blue agave. Rum? Well, other than needing to be distilled from some type of sugarcane product, rum is largely a free-for-all. Bourbon, however, has very strict rules that must be followed in order to be sold in the U.S. as such. Those rules are as follows:
- It must be distilled from a mash containing at least 51 percent corn
- It must be aged in new charred oak barrels
- It must enter the barrel at no more than 125 proof
- It must be distilled to no more than 160 proof
- It must be bottled at no less than 80 proof
- It cannot contain any added flavorings or color (just water)
- It must be produced in the United States — any state, not just Kentucky
Jack Daniel’s is technically bourbon
Following those rules above, Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7, the brand’s flagship bottle, along with all of the brand’s other whiskeys that aren’t labeled as rye or American single malt — i.e., its Tennessee Whiskeys — are all legally bourbon. These whiskeys are made with a mashbill consisting of 80 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley and 8 percent rye, and they follow all of the other legal processes to qualify as bourbon in the eyes of Uncle Sam.