TN Distilleries

[sotnsipper]

After 30 years of living in Tennessee, I finally took the time to visit our two whisk(e)y distilleries. First stop was at JD. We were with tour group #7. I thought this was pretty neat since their benchmark bottle is "Old No.7". The master distiller, Jeff Arnett, is also the 7th master distiller and has worked there for 7 years.

As far as our tour guide, she was very informative and pretty funny. She was actually a relative (by marriage) of the Motlow family and knew a lot of history behind the family. We learned how the distillery came to be from Jack coming to the small town and setting up his distillery, going through prohibition, and the rebuilding. Too much history to list here.

They dropped us off at the place they burn the Sugar Maple wood for the charcoal. They actually spray the wood down with the 140 proof whiskey for an ignitor, this stuff burns hot! Next we moved into the distilling building. I have read a lot on how this process takes place but actually walking through each step is quite an experience. The most memorable part for me was taking a small but very overwhelming sniff of the fermenting tank. If you do get a chance to take a sniff, hold on to your hat. We got to see how the charcoal mellowing process takes place too. It is actually a little different than I thought it was. The whiskey is pumped through copper tubes into the mellowing vat at 140 proof and slowly drip through the charcoal, all 10 feet of it. We also got to take a sniff of the mellowing vat. The charcoal is changed out at no more than every 6 months or per tasters choice.

Next we moved to the barreling house. We did not get to see any of the barreling due to being Saturday and everybody was off. After barreling, it is off to one of the rick houses.

The next stop was the bottling building. Not a lot to see there but we watched a video over the bottling process. Much like an assembly line, the bottles roll down and filled on a conveyor belt. We did get to see some of the bottleings not available in the U.S. like the silver top 100 proof and the 3 liter bottle.

The last stop was the old visitor center that has been converted to a rick house. We got to see how the barrels were stored and rotated. Having that much whiskey around ya will make you weak at the knees.

From there, we went into the visitor center where we were treated to a glass of lemonade. They had all the limited offereing bottles at the White Rabbit Saloon. I did not buy anything there, not a big Jack fan. Anyway, that wrapped up our tour so we went to the square in Lynchburg.

We headed out to Tullahoma from there to Cascade Hollow, home of the George Dickel Distillery. We got a warmer welcome form this considerably smaller distillery. The tour group was a lot smaller too, just me and my wife! The guide here was also very informative and friendly. She started with the long history of the Dickel distillery. The original distillery was actually a couple miles up the road from where it is today. The original was totally dismantled during prohibition.

We started out seeing where the sugar maple was burned. It is a little different here as it is burned in the open air, JD had a cover over it to catch the smoke. We then moved across the road to the distillery building. Got to see the Still house with the two stills. GD gets distilled twice, once in the standard beer still, then a second time in an old fashioned pot still.

We got to check out the mash tubs and fermenting vats. They are set up a lot like JD, but at a smaller scale. Also, the fermenting vats are open where the ones are closed at JD.

We then moved over to where they set the grain bill. The mash bill is very high in corn. There is only like ~8% rye and malted barley. There is more barley in the JD. We got to see where the barrels were filled also. The guide told us that they recently upgraded to a system where they can fill two barrels at a time, on an automated fill system. They used to do it one barrel at a time, and by weight.

From there, we went to a mock barrel house. All the barrels were empty but they set it up to show what the barrel houses look like. They load up like 4-5 barrels on a pickup truck and carry them up a little road to the actual barrel houses. They do not do the bottling at this facility, they ship it off to get bottled.

This was the end of our tour here. Overall I found both of the tours very informative and entertaining. I did seem to like the GD tour a little more. We had a blast and am sure we will go back to both.

[craigthom]

I like both tours (all tours, really), but the Dickel one does feel a more "real".

If you got a sharp burning smell over the fermenting tank that was carbon dioxide. When I tour distilleries I scoop a little air from below the lip of the vat up to my nose before I lean over, just in case. Sometimes you get the sour beer smell, and sometimes the CO2. I prefer the former.

All the tours in Kentucky except Wild Turkey end with samples, and I don't mean lemonade, so you should come on up.

[sotnsipper]

I scoop a little air from below the lip of the vat up to my nose before I lean over, just in case.

Very good advise. I thought I was going to die for a few seconds......amateur tourer here

All the tours in Kentucky except Wild Turkey end with samples, and I don't mean lemonade, so you should come on up.

I would love to come up. That was our original plan, but decided to do a short trip. Ky distillery tour is on my to do list. My list is getting shorter by the way!

[ILLfarmboy]

I enjoyed reading your post, sotnsipper.

It was the first I had heard of the White Rabbit Saloon. Man, I like that name. Considering it was a special potion that Alice drank while at the bottom of the rabbit hole, the name White Rabbit Saloon congers up some wild images.

[Blitz]

Very nice accounting of your trip. I have done half the KY distilleries and of course want to do the rest, but now I have to add TN to the list too.

[sotnsipper]

I enjoyed reading your post, sotnsipper.

It was the first I had heard of the White Rabbit Saloon. Man, I like that name. Considering it was a special potion that Alice drank while at the bottom of the rabbit hole, the name White Rabbit Saloon congers up some wild images.

Thank you. It was a very interesting experience for me and especially for my wife. I too got a kick out of the name of the saloon. The original White Rabbit Saloon as actually ran by Jack Daniels himself. All we got in this one was lemonade, would have preferred some free JD, but oh well. In the lobby of the visitor center there is a little more info on the original WRS.

Very nice accounting of your trip. I have done half the KY distilleries and of course want to do the rest, but now I have to add TN to the list too.

Thank you too. Now that I have visited the ones here, I really want to get to KY for some more tours. I have read so much about peoples trips to the ones up there and I really want to go!

[StraightBoston]

I'll be staying in Tullahoma for Bonnaroo in June, so we're trying to make time to visit Dickel and Jack.

[craigthom]

I'll be staying in Tullahoma for Bonnaroo in June, so we're trying to make time to visit Dickel and Jack.

I think women are required to wear tops on the tours, so keep that in mind when you leave Bonnaroo.

[OscarV]

I have never been to J Daniel's but I did do the Dickel tour.

It was the best tour I have been on and that includes four bourbon distilleries.

I love the location and the grounds and the people that work there.

The only complaint is that we didn't get to see the rick houses.

[cowdery]

Everybody raves about the Dickel tour. I'm embarassed to say I've never been.

[OscarV]

The only complaint is that we didn't get to see the rick houses.

IIRC we didn't see the rick houses because of a personel shortage that day or maybe you have to schedule it ahead of time.

And they do have a license to sell in that dry county.

It is a very small room and only in that room, kinda cool.

[sotnsipper]

The only complaint is that we didn't get to see the rick houses.

Did they have the "mock" rick house set up when you went? They took one part of the building by the main building and set it up to show what the rick houses look like. The only way to the rick houses is up a very tiny road up the hill about a mile or so, so it is understandable why they don't take people up there.

[sotnsipper]

Everybody raves about the Dickel tour. I'm embarassed to say I've never been.

It is definitely a must visit if you are in the area. It is such a down home place, you feel like family while you are there.