Jack Daniel's Rested Rye

[risenc]

I had a glass of this at Maysville the other night. Curious to know what others think, but to me it tasted like a booze-soaked banana. The acetate was overwhelming. Not the worst thing I've ever had (I like banana), but pretty odd. The nose was a powerful, but not off-putting, mix of lime zest and anise. Overall, it wasn't as bad as I had assumed it would be (because even Arnett set the expectations low, saying it was a work in progress). I wouldn't pay for it again, but I wouldn't turn it away if offered.

[tanstaafl2]

I had a glass of this at Maysville the other night. Curious to know what others think, but to me it tasted like a booze-soaked banana. The acetate was overwhelming. Not the worst thing I've ever had (I like banana), but pretty odd. The nose was a powerful, but not off-putting, mix of lime zest and anise. Overall, it wasn't as bad as I had assumed it would be (because even Arnett set the expectations low, saying it was a work in progress). I wouldn't pay for it again, but I wouldn't turn it away if offered.

I brought both the unaged and "rested" rye to the Gazebo this weekend. Others may have thoughts on it but I thought the unaged was more interesting at this point. The rested seemed to be a one note flavor as you say although banana wasn't what jumped out to me, just a kind of generic fruit taste.

[smokinjoe]

Yeah, not a lot of complexity but no off-notes either. I got that "banana" flavor, as well. More barrel time needed. In that I have noticed that banana note in regular JD #7 over the years, I'm guessing it's a house flavor from the yeast, or something.

[WAINWRIGHT]

I can at least say I tried this if you love the JD banana profile than this may be for you it is dominating,but really not bad in any way really as I figured it would be just awful.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[tanstaafl2]

I am going to have to try this again without trying a bunch of other stuff first and see if I can find that banana profile! I got more of a general fruit thing but then I don't drink JD very often.

[callmeox]

I hate to pile on, but I also sampled the gazebo bottle and was nearly floored by the banana.

Thanks much for the opportunity to try it out.

[tanstaafl2]

I hate to pile on, but I also sampled the gazebo bottle and was nearly floored by the banana.

Thanks much for the opportunity to try it out.

No problem. At this point I am pretty sure I am going to taste that banana profile even if I have to jam one into the bottle to do it!

:cool:

[smokinjoe]

No problem. At this point I am pretty sure I am going to taste that banana profile even if I have to jam one into the bottle to do it!

:cool:

[VAGentleman]

I just tried some of this and you guys weren't kidding. The banana just floored me. Besides that not that bad, not that great either. Be interesting to try this when its aged another 2 years

[TunnelTiger]

Unfortunately it's still only going to be 80 proof.

[cowdery]

Thinking about this in the context of the Old Overholt at 3-years thread. Apparently, and this is perfectly okay, some people like the taste of a very young rye and even prefer it to a fully aged one.

[oknazevad]

Interesting that they label it a straight rye. It certainly is one, albeit young, by any legal definition, but I guess it proves that the charcoal mellowing does not disqualify use of the "straight" label because it is additive. Meaning that the regular Jack could be labeled bourbon if they so chose. Not like they're going to, but any argue kent that they couldn't is disproven.

[amg]

Jack cant be called bourbon because of the rules for bourbon, not just the rules for 'straight bourbon'.

[squire]

I believe Jack and George both qualify to be labeled as Bourbon or Straight Bourbon if they wished but having worked so hard to establish Tennessee Whisky as something different I doubt we'll see any such label.

Rye however, is a different story.

[amg]

Interesting. The tour guide at Buffalo Trace when we were there last month went out of his way to state that the Lincoln County Process disqualified Jack Daniels from being labeled as a bourbon, but you're right.

I agree that the Tennessee Whiskey label is more valuable to those brands for marketing purposes. I doubt anyone who drinks Jack Daniels cares whether it's 'straight bourbon' or not.

[squire]

Sometimes colloquially referred to as 'Tennessee Sourmash' as if that technique is somehow limited to TN whisky.

[squire]

Interesting. The tour guide at Buffalo Trace when we were there last month went out of his way to state that the Lincoln County Process disqualified Jack Daniels from being labeled as a bourbon, but you're right.

That's like a 19 year old tour guide at Disney claiming she knew Walt personally.

[shoshani]

Interesting. The tour guide at Buffalo Trace when we were there last month went out of his way to state that the Lincoln County Process disqualified Jack Daniels from being labeled as a bourbon, but you're right.

Funny story: That same Buffalo Trace distillery produced George Dickel's Cascade after Prohibition; both the brand and the Stagg (as it was known then) Distillery were owned by Schenley. The complete Lincoln County process leaching vats were installed on the property to maintain the product's integrity, but the product was sold as Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky.

[squire]

Yes they did and used the Lincoln County process of filtering the new make whisky through 10 feet of charcoal. Kinda dispels the "Jack Daniels doesn't qualify" myth.

Thanks for posting a picture of the bottle.

[cowdery]

Two factual errors:

(1) It is incorrect to say Jack Daniel's 'can't' be called bourbon or straight bourbon. Jack Daniel's is bourbon but chooses not to use the term.

(2) The charcoal mellowing vats to make Dickel were installed at Stitzel-Weller before Prohibition but after state prohibition was passed in Tennessee. Dickel was made at BT after Prohibition but it was bourbon and no charcoal mellowing was done. Unfortunately, BT has been misrepresenting this history on its tours. Schenley didn't acquire Dickel/Cascade until several years after Prohibition ended.

[shoshani]

The charcoal mellowing vats to make Dickel were installed at Stitzel-Weller before Prohibition but after state prohibition was passed in Tennessee. Dickel was made at BT after Prohibition but it was bourbon and no charcoal mellowing was done. Unfortunately, BT has been misrepresenting this history on its tours. Schenley didn't acquire Dickel/Cascade until several years after Prohibition ended.

[amg]

Got an email from a local store giving me the opportunity to reserve a bottle of this for $57. I passed.

[cowdery]

Dickel's pre-Prohibition production in Louisville was at A. Ph. Stitzel, not at Stitzel-Weller (built after Prohibition) so presumably the charcoal mellowing apparatus was demolished or repurposed when that plant was decommissioned.

In 1937, Lew Rosenstiel met with George Shwab (George Dickel's namesake and nephew) and decided the Shwab family’s Dickel claim was worth $100,000. That's when BT, then owned by Rosenstiel's Schenley, came into the picture.

[squire]

Dickel was made at BT after Prohibition but it was bourbon and no charcoal mellowing was done. Unfortunately, BT has been misrepresenting this history on its tours.

Ack, another illusion shot.

[Gillman]

I finally got to try this. The barrels obviously vary or the batches, as mine was very mild-tasting, a bit like pastry dough. No banana or other fruit esters. It didn't taste like rye whiskey at all, it tasted a lot like a junior version of Old No. 7. In other words, the sooty maple quality was quite evident; this must be from the maple charcoal filtration.

I wonder if this product will actually age, or further age, into anything useful since it seems way too bland. To get a characterful whiskey at 4+ years, you need a congener-laden feisty whiskey to smooth down into that form. Putting it another way, I think what I had is fully-aged as is. It was quite nice although a higher proof would be better.

Gary