Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey

[harshest]

You guys can now all run out to you favorite liquor store and spend the same amount of money for a 70 proof JD liqueur as the regular black label.

Here in Michigan is shows up at $22.95 on the states web site, which means it is available but I haven't seen it in stores yet.

Here is the only review I could find - http://www.drinkspirits.com/liqueur/jack-daniels-tennessee-honey-review/

Also a little teaser from the JD FB page - http://www.facebook.com/jackdaniels

Pretty sure I won't be trying this, unless we get the 50ml bottles...

[JohnHansell]

I was sent a review sample yesterday. I'm not a big whiskey liqueur drinker, but I had a wee taste (chilled very cold) and enjoyed it.

Then I went back to drinking whiskey and beer for the rest of the evening...:grin:

[jmpyle]

I received a sample of Tennessee Honey this morning. I opened the package this evening and it was still cold. I poured a couple sips and enjoyed it for a moment. It's not bad, but it's not something I could drink a lot off. I don't know that many serious whiskey drinkers will love it. It's extremely sweet, thick, and tastes of heavily honey sweetened JD. I can see this raking it in at the bars as a chilled shooter.

[callmeox]

I was sent a review sample yesterday. I'm not a big whiskey liqueur drinker, but I had a wee taste (chilled very cold) and enjoyed it.

Then I went back to drinking whiskey and beer for the rest of the evening...:grin:

Whiskey based liqueurs is another line to add to Lew's review duties at MA...

[cowdery]

Many years ago a long-time executive for the Jack Daniel's advertising agency wrote, on the occasion of his retirement, an essay on how to screw up the Jack Daniel's brand. He meant it as a cautionary tale but they now seem to be using it as a blueprint.

[squire]

Another blackbird liquor. You know, one blackbird lands on the wire and a whole bunch follow.

[Parkersback]

It's really unclear to me how this has a market. If I want to make a hot toddy, why do I need someone else to mix a spoonful of honey in to my whiskey?

I'm not opposed to "flavored" whiskeys necessarily, whether they be aged in sherry casks, aged/flavored with fruit, etc.. But honey?

[squire]

No mystery really, if girls like it guys will buy it.

[camduncan]

I find them an interesting night-cap drink to pair with something sweet like chocolate or cake at the end of a meal.... But I could just as easily (and I do more frequently) reach for a bottle of port or liquor muscat instead.

[ThomasH]

The one big mistake they are making with this is the proof. They made a mistake with a lot of their customers when they dropped black label to 80 proof. The definitely should have made this offering 80 proof!

Thomas

[p_elliott]

I got talking about KY and bourbon a few weeks back and a few coworkers got talking how they liked the WT honey. So there is a market for this stuff (euphemism).

[craigthom]

The one big mistake they are making with this is the proof. They made a mistake with a lot of their customers when they dropped black label to 80 proof. The definitely should have made this offering 80 proof!

Thomas

But making it a liqueur instead of a whiskey allows them to drop the proof and put less whiskey in the bottle. They can't lower the proof of the black or green any more because 80 proof is the legal lower limit.

[cowdery]

I just got a sample. They went to great lengths to use cooler packaging, like someone shipping meat would do. The product isn't in danger of spoiling but they wanted to emphasize that it is meant to be served chilled. I haven't tried it yet. But I did put it in the refrigerator.

The logic is that the JD brand gives any regular JD drinker permission to drink this for a change of pace, or for the person in a group of JD drinkers who doesn't really care for whiskey, this is something they can drink and still be in the fold. Brand loyalty and brand identity is a very funny thing. The concern is that too many brand extensions dilutes and cheapens the brand. Maybe that horse is so far out of the barn it's not worth contemplating. It could be that the JD brand is so strong it's bulletproof.

[jmpyle]

I think the JD brand is clearly bullet proof. They could put out Peach Schnapps infused JD and it wouldn't even dent their brand. And again, as others have mentioned, this stuff has a sweet spot for the bar crowd looking to shoot cold, sticky, sweet, whiskey-lite. That's their audience for this stuff more than likely and it'll fly for that crowd.

[ebo]

If it tastes anything like American Honey from WT, I'll pass. I can't do the sickening sweet stuff.:grin:

[craigthom]

I've only had a small store sample of the American Honey, but I didn't think it was sickeningly sweet. It wasn't something I would buy, but it wasn't as syrupy as I expected.

[callmeox]

It's not sickeningly sweet until you order a double Wild Turkey on the rocks in a noisy bar and they slip you American Honey instead. :bigeyes:

Bad surprise.

[ThomasH]

I wish they had left it at 80 proof and considered it whiskey infused with honey. To me, the difference between 70 proof and 80 proof in a mixed drink is the difference between a mixed drink and soda pop!

Thomas

[cowdery]

I've had a chance to try this and it is tasty and nicely made for what it is. The official designation is 'Other Specialities & Proprietaries,' and the label calls it 'honey liqueur blended with Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey.' The taste is more liqueur than whiskey, although in their press materials they refer to it as, "something new when it comes to whiskey from the Jack Daniel Distillery."

Let the gnashing of teeth begin.

It emits a very nice, fresh aroma of honey, and you can taste a lot of honey on the tongue too, along with vanilla. The Jack comes out more in the finish, which has that little back-of-the-throat burn that Jack drinkers will recognize.

They suggest drinking it chilled, probably to position it parallel to Jagermeister, which stands for the proposition that it is macho to drink a sweet drink if it's also bitter. This is nowhere near as bitter as Jager. They also suggest mixing it with ginger ale, lemonade or iced tea.

Jeff Arnett, the Master Distiller at JD, doesn't make an appearance in the press materials. Instead the spokesperson is somebody named Jeff Norman, Master Taster.

Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey rolls out nationwide next month at a suggested retail of about $22.

[silverfish]

DrinkHacker offers up a review.

Bottom line: "Who would've thought that in the realm of honey

liqueur, it would be Jack that came up with the best of the lot."

Score: A

[ebo]

Can someone tell me how Jack Daniel's became such an American icon in whiskey? What is so special about Jack Black(Old #7) that it has such a cult following? As everyone on this forum knows (I think), Jack Daniel's isn't anything special, let alone deserving of the unreal cult status it has. How did this come to be?

[TNbourbon]

My sample came from my retailer/employer's 50ml bottle, which is all we're offering to start.

I didn't hate it. I didn't want any more than that 50ml sample, at the time, either.

Tasty? Well, it didn't offend. Cloying? Almost.

But, then, it ain't whiskey, folks, it's flavored whiskey. If you don't LIKE honey, you won't buy it!

The price puts it in typical JD territory -- pretty dear for what it is, but likely salable to the "brand-washed" masses.:skep:

[cigarnv]

Side by side I find the EW Honey the best of the lot.... least expensive, less "sticky and sweet" and hints of citrus which brightens it up a bit.

[CorvallisCracker]

Can someone tell me how Jack Daniel's became such an American icon in whiskey? What is so special about Jack Black(Old #7) that it has such a cult following? As everyone on this forum knows (I think), Jack Daniel's isn't anything special, let alone deserving of the unreal cult status it has. How did this come to be?

Consulting my copy of Answers to the Great Mysterious Questions of Our Era, I believe the answer is among the following:

1. 42

2. A man who presents a "Bad Boy" image, but who is sensitive enough to know her every desire without her ever having to articulate it. A man who makes her laugh, who remembers her birthday and who leaves the seat down. A man who is tall, dark¹ and, of course, handsome.

3. Marketing!

4. Louie Louie, oh no, me gotta go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby.

Louie Louie, oh baby, me gotta go.

A fine little girl, she waits for me.

Me catch the ship across the sea.

Me sailed the ship all alone.

Me never think I'll make it home.

Louie Louie, oh no, me gotta go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby.

Louie Louie, oh baby, me gotta go.

Three nights and days I sailed the sea.

Me think of girl constantly.

On the ship, I dream she there.

I smell the rose in her hair.

Louie Louie, oh no, me gotta go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby.

Louie Louie, oh baby, me gotta go.

OK, let's give it to 'em right now

Me see . . .

Me see Jamaica, the moon above.

It won't be long me see me love.

Me take her in my arms and then

I tell her I'll never leave again.

Louie Louie, oh no, me gotta go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby.

Louie Louie, oh baby, me gotta go

I said we gotta go now

Let's step on out of here

Let's go!

1. Unless she's seeking a sperm donor, in which case most of them apparently want a blue-eyed blonde

[smokinjoe]

All of the distilleries must see growth potential in the segment, as they all are coming out with the same type of product recently (WT, EW, now JD. Not to mention the ones that have been around for a while). Does anyone know the sales figures for the different versions? Are the volume numbers to support all of these new introductions high enough to justify them?