Gillman Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 I bought a 200 ml to top up my current JD vatting and was surprised how good it was. Soft and elegant, and it reminded me of nothing so much as the original Michter's (despite the low rye in the Jack). It had zero banana or other fruit but a complex slightly smoky sweetness. I bought a couple more from the same shelf a few days later and they taste the same. Jack is getting better and better and it's not my imagination. For once I thought it was worth the money - and more.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronWF Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 This doesn't speak to your point, Gary, regarding JD getting better, but I picked up a few 200ml bottles WT101 while on vacation last month and thought the juice inside was markedly better than the last time I had a pour from a bar bottle. It made me wonder if the producers might intentionally put better barrels towards smaller bottles, the strategy being to lure someone who purchases a 200ml bottle to go all in on a 750ml bottle next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Don't know if that's the strategy but I can see how it might work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Interesting point!Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighHorse Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Yesterday I left the bourbon and ventured back to Jack Daniels. It has been years since I had it .. going back to when I was drinking bourbon and coke! I had it on the rocks and was delighted. Had it with friends and we all admitted that none of us had it at home. I guess we've just become bourbon snobs. Well .. I had a second .. and that's more than enough to convince me to pick up a couple. The JD was loaded with sweet caramel goodness complete with a full, flowery bourbonesque nose and a determined finish. I guess it's no wonder they sell so much of this stuff. Unfortunately .. most of it is likely still consumed with coke or ginger ale. I'll also pick up some of the 200 ml bottles. Back to black .. who woulda thunk it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IowaJeff Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 I havn't had Jack in a few years. Maybe I'll pick up a small bottle. Putting better juice in the smaller bottles could be a good marketing ploy - but it also could have tasted better b/c you were on vacation. Everything tastes better on vacation! :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighHorse Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Re the Jack ... I also thought it was good enough and close enough to toss it in the fray on Squire's tasting quiz ... but thought ... nah .. there's no way he would do that! Not Squire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnbowljoe Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Hmmmmmm. Y'all got me thinking. Yeah, dangerous I know. I haven't had any JD in a while. I have a handle (about 1/2 full) that I keep around just in case. A couple of my bowling buddies love their Jack and Cokes, and my son will have one once in a while when he's over. To be honest, I've really never given much thought about regular JD as a sipper, even though I like my occasional Jack and Coke too. I have had a couple of bottles of JDSB in the past and thought they were pretty good for sipping, and thanks to a fellow SB member, I also have a bottle of JDSS that I think is quite good. The Tennessee equivalent of a BIB. :skep: And most of you know that next to wheaters, I love BIB's. :yum: After supper tonight, I just may have to have me some Tennessee whiskey. :grin: After all, it's good to change things up once in a while. Cheers guys! Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Comp Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I bought a 200 ml to top up my current JD vatting and was surprised how good it was. Soft and elegant, and it reminded me of nothing so much as the original Michter's (despite the low rye in the Jack). It had zero banana or other fruit but a complex slightly smoky sweetness. I bought a couple more from the same shelf a few days later and they taste the same. Jack is getting better and better and it's not my imagination. For once I thought it was worth the money - and more.GaryHowever a single barrel version I tasted at a restaurant a few weeks ago, that was just handpicked by them, did have prominent banana. I passed the glencairn for my wife to smell, saying nothing, and the first comment from her was banana. She only drinks her whiskey in an Old Fashioned and knows nothing about this proclivity of JD. The menu relates, that Jeff Arnett had proclaimed this was a true honey barrel redolent with butterscotch. And it still wasn't bad and had some other things going on but no butterscotch to me. This restaurants handpicked Eagle Rare was the highlight of the 3 of their handpicks I tasted that evening with tons of cherry pipe tobacco smell, as I best remember, from sticking my face into my Dad's canister of it back in the '60s :grin:. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Definitely still present in some bottlings, but not these 200 ml, really! It must vary depending on the barrels/batches, and I'm hoping is being rubbed out.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Comp Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Definitely still present in some bottlings, but not these 200 ml, really! It must vary depending on the barrels/batches, and I'm hoping is being rubbed out.GaryI certainly believe you and your palate Gary and hope the same. Funny that tonight...I've settled into a sample somebody gave me of a 11 year old Party Source Willett, 113.2 proof and barrel # 372, and it too has a light dose of banana, but I'm thinking this one's originally a Barton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAGentleman Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Nice to see some JD love on this board instead of the usual bashing. I love me some JD JDSB and JDSS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 VOB does have a banana-like nose I would say, different than JD has had, but the analogy makes sense IMO.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickert Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 They had Jack on sale here for around $20 (instead of the usual $35), so I picked up a couple bottles. Nothing great, but enjoyable. I really like to sip on the JDSB. I call it "the best whiskey to drink when you want something good, but don't want to think too much about it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighHorse Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 By chance the Brown Forman rep stopped by the porch last night and I inquired about the source of the whiskey in the minis. He laughed at me when I suggested they might be juiced up to spur sales and said matter-of-factly that it is the same juice as in the bottles.They also brought by a taste of the new Jack white dog Rye offering .. not sure what it's being branded as. It's in a few states now but just coming in to Florida. There had to be 8 or 9 of us tasting .. most in the business .. and, while there was some discussion of the rye back-end, etc, etc .. it was not enthusiastically endorsed for those who love their bourbon and rye. No doubt it will fill a niche for white dog .. with the rye standing out as unique. It's all moonshine to me.I was having Jack again and handed the glass to two very discriminating bourbonites for a blind taste. Each was impressed and surprised when I told them it was Jack Black. Not a person I have handed it to remembers Jack tasting this good. The bartender reminded me that those of us who drank it years ago were drinking it at a higher proof and that it was, indeed, not so sipping friendly as it is now at 80 proof. He indicated that it has been proofed down a couple of times and that BF dropped the proof to 80 when they purchased JD. Not many 80's I find as pleasing.They should run a campaign to 'come back to Jack'"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighHorse Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 ... I really like to sip on the JDSB. I call it "the best whiskey to drink when you want something good, but don't want to think too much about it."Perfect! That will be added to my lexicon. Sometimes that is exactly what I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 They also brought by a taste of the new Jack white dog Rye offering .. not sure what it's being branded as. "Unaged Tennessee Rye" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadewood Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Good call Gary. I happened to buy a new bottle of Jack just the other day. It's not something I buy for myself, but I buy it for the same reason I keep a bottle of Crown at home - a well stocked bar for guests. My previous Jack bottle was 3-4 years old and down to about 20% left. I tried side by side and I picked up less shellac and banana peel in newer version. I still get the banana peel but is very weak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I heard that same canard the other day from someone who should know better, that Brown-Forman lowered the proof to 80 when they bought Jack Daniels.Brown-Forman has owned Jack Daniels for more than 50 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Glad to hear that Wade, something is afoot here. It is not invariable yet, but something is going on IMO. It's like perhaps the "eucalyptus" that so many noticed in HH bourbons 10-12 years ago. It's gone now. Now only if Beam would... Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Glad to hear that Wade, something is afoot here. It is not invariable yet, but something is going on IMO. It's like perhaps the "eucalyptus" that so many noticed in HH bourbons 10-12 years ago. It's gone now.Now only if Beam would... Gary Yeah my friend, but... I like that they have the bananas in JD. I like that they had the eucalyptus in old HH. I like that they have the yeasty thang in Beam. I like that they have the cantaloupe rind in Woodford. I like that they have the good earthiness to a good BT. I like whatever the heck that is in LDI ryes. House Styles. That's what I like. Not every bourbon has to be creamy vanillas, burnt sugar, caramel, and so on...I would hate if all bourbon whiskies migrated to an indistinguishable profile. Heck, sometimes I think we're almost there, already... Stay DIFFERENT, I say!!!! :soapbox: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Comp Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 It ain't dead yet at HH...well maybe not exactly eucalyptus but definitely spearmint. Way to much of it in the newly arrived 2003 vintage EW SB handpicked by Binny's and designated as Barrel #7. The bottle minus 3 ounces will be available for keeps to anyone who wants it come Sampler weekend. I tried again tonight but the mint overpowers and damn if it won't go away. Not for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 I am all for differences, but based on flavors I regard as superlative and not based e.g., on - these are metaphors - funk, banana-acetone, pronounced vegetal, or what have you. The existing palette of bourbon flavors hardly exhausts the potential range. I would say Jack without a strong banana-acetone-like taste is a superior flavor, but still distinctive. I said earlier the 200 mls I tried had a distinctive complex sweetness, for example.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 It ain't dead yet at HH...well maybe not exactly eucalyptus but definitely spearmint. Way to much of it in the newly arrived 2003 vintage EW SB handpicked by Binny's and designated as Barrel #7. The bottle minus 3 ounces will be available for keeps to anyone who wants it come Sampler weekend. I tried again tonight but the mint overpowers and damn if it won't go away. Not for me. I would love to bogart your free bottle at Sampler, Thad! Unfortunately, once Jimmy hears that there is a freebie bottle available, it'll be in his suitcase before lunch. Anywho, I'm sure I'll pony up for a bottle beforehand, as I always look forward to the yearly releases of EWSB. I'll be looking for that spearmint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnbowljoe Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I understand where everyone is coming from with the banana flavor in JD products. I thought the same thing too. I've sipped some JD the last couple of nights, and I got something different this time around. Yeah, we all know that JD is filtered through sugar maple charcoal, and maybe it's a bit suggestive, but I swear the sweetness I got from my JD and JDSS was more akin to a hint of maple syrup. :skep: Maybe y'all could revisit your Jack and see if you can taste it too. I'd hate to think that I'm the only crazy one here that tastes maple syrup. :crazy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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