Jack Daniel’s is the best-selling whiskey in the world.

[boone]

This article was in the Courier Journal (Louisville, Ky.) business section, newspaper last week.

[ThomasH]

It is very easy to fix this domestic downturn in sales, put the brand back to 90 proof where it belongs!

Thomas

[Gillman]

I think part of it is that Jack Daniels drinkers are trying other straight whiskeys, and finding they sometimes prefer something different which may also be a better value.

Gary

[ILLfarmboy]

No brand is bullet proof and Its hight time B F takes notice of that.

[Martian]

I just returned from a few days in Ireland. Every pub and hotel bar I entered carried JD and JBW. None carried Dickel.

[barturtle]

I just returned from a few days in Ireland. Every pub and hotel bar I entered carried JD and JBW. None carried Dickel.

According to the Dickel website, it is not exported.

[camduncan]

I just returned from a few days in Ireland. Every pub and hotel bar I entered carried JD and JBW. None carried Dickel.

In 2004, every pub in Scotland and England offered me Southern Comfort or Jack Daniels when I asked for bourbon. No bourbon to be found (until we hit the respective capital cities)

[ILLfarmboy]

In 2004, every pub in Scotland and England offered me Southern Comfort or....

If this is what the average bar patron in the UK and Europe is being offered as representative of American whiskey I can see why so many on the other side of the pond have a generally low opinion of our native spirit.

Time and time again I have noticed the same type of situation. Chaucer's Mead is the mead most likely to be encountered by someone searching for their first mead. Given that fact its no wonder mead is only a footnote in the world of alcoholic beverages.

This "peculiarity" extends to all manner of consumer goods. When I first became interested in traditional wet shaving; using brush, soap and safety razor, Williams was the only soap that I could easily find just about anywhere. Its cheap, tends to dry your skin out and is hardly representative of many fine soaps out there. Were it not for the Internet and dogged determination to find something better I would still be living in ignorance. I guess my point in all this rambling is why are the only examples of products (American whiskey) that are ubiquitous always the worst examples of their category? This happens even when the price difference isn't particularly great.

[squire]

So the worlds best selling whiskey is made in America. I like the sound of that.

Regards,
Squire

[CrashRiley]

My problem with JD is that I've seen it dumbed-down twice in the last 14 years, from 92 proof, to 86 proof, to 80 proof. To me, that makes it somewhat dishonest. It is no longer the JD of your father or grandfather. It is not Frank Sinatra's Jack Daniels, that's for sure.

The JD folks claim that tasters can't detect an appreciable difference.

So why would they do this? Taxes. They pay taxes on volume of alcohol produced.

So to me, if you want honest Tennessee whiskey, drink George Dickel. It's still 92 proof and a LOT cheaper than JD, but I understand that a price increase might be coming very soon.