barrel proof from Lynchburg

[Ghoste]

Maybe this has been covered elsewhere (and I apologize if it has)but with all the fuss about JD watering down their formula, does their barrel proof come out at full strength? Or is it watered down by the time it gets there?

[TNbourbon]

"Barrel proof" and "full strength" are synonymous, no? Jack Daniel's does not have a barrel-proof whiskey on the market (at least domestically -- nor, I think, for export). Are you asking about the "single barrel" which is bottled at 94 proof (47% abv)? If so, then no -- Jack Daniel's Single Barrel is not barreled at barrel proof.

[Ghoste]

My mistake. You're right. I just went and looked at the bottle and yes, it is that single barrel stuff. I was getting confused with a bottle of Wild Turkey Rare Breed that was sitting on the shelf beside it.

Terrible mistake.

[TNbourbon]

Don't feel bad -- the more I think about it, I believe I'm wrong, too. Traditionally, "full proof" has meant 100 proof, I think, not "barrel-proof" -- though, intuitively, the latter would seem correct. You can see how ineffective my intuition is.

[cowdery]

"Full Strength" is not a term normally applied to bourbon, as there would be no common understanding as to what it means. Traditionally, 100 proof (50 percent alcohol) was standard, but after Prohibition lower proofs became common and 80 proof is probably the most common today, in terms of overall volume. It is also the legal minimum. Whiskey sold below 80 has to be labeled "diluted."

[Gillman]

Full strength was used in a circa 1900 ad reproduced in Sam Cecil's book as in, "full strength of the grain". It seems to have meant the whiskey was straight (not grain spirits) but could have meant 100 proof. It was one of those non-specific but arresting terms one finds in the old ads whereas today so much whiskey is ad nauseum claimed to be "smooth".

I used to say I liked whiskey at 80 proof and would dilute higher-proof to that strength. I now find 80 proof too weak for me.

I am getting "hardened" due to the influence of some of the guys around here.

Gary

[gr8erdane]

I am getting "hardened" due to the influence of some of the guys around here.

Now if we could just get you to drink each individually crafted whiskey as is.....

[Gillman]

Actually in this regard I'm incorrigible. Before me now I have a bottle of my "All-Trace Distillery" bourbon: a combination of Blanton Gold, Blanton Original, Elmer T. Lee, Buffalo Trace and Ancient Age 10 year old. So, an adroit blending of all rye-recipe Buffalo Trace Distillery bourbons. Darn good, too, rich and silky, luminous as an autumnn sunset, free from streakiness of taste but withal, rather heady.

Had Thomas Hardy been an admirer of whisky instead of beer he would have approved, you see.

Gary