Gillman Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) Thad, thanks for the "look back", I tend to forget myself some of the previous discussions on Jack in which I participated and as you saw, discussions were ongoing before I joined the board.I feel my comments at the time still largely apply with an important exception: I no longer get a "shellac" taste in some Jack. I've mentioned a number of times recently that I feel Jack has improved in recent years, and the absence of such notes is an example again IMO.I forgot that maple syrup test with KC, I'll have to try that again, and many here would agree I think on a mapley note in Jack. Probably it comes from part of the charcoal that is uncarbonised as would the wood taste proper unless the latter is from a particular method of seasoning barrels used for Jack. Toasting itself is a kind of (mild) carbonization after all...As for charring barrels and Islay analogies, I've felt for some time that Scots and Scots-Irish immigrants might have missed the phenolic tang of Scots and Irish whiskeys - at the time Irish whiskey used peated malt. And so charred barrels and/or leaching white whiskey through wood charcoal might have been used in Pennsylvania and the South to impart a similar quality.In the case of charcoal leaching (and indeed barrel aging), it seems undeniable that this was a rectification technique - a way to take something objectionable out of the whiskey, oils and other congeners. But there could have been multiple reasons for using these techniques, perhaps the smoky taste of Jack and indeed bourbon to a degree reminded people of Scots and Irish whiskey - denoted whiskey to them in a word - but the spirit also tasted better through removal of objectionable congeners, the "hog tracks".More power to anyone who wants to try to develop that or thought of it on their own, but it's one of those things that really can't be proved or disproved and the history is too far back to find anything new, unfortunately!Gary Edited August 28, 2012 by Gillman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrt Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Very interesting thread and my special thanks to T Comp for the informative insight. For my part, I like JD and that's it! With or without Coke depends on my mood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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