barturtle Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I just returned from a few days in Ireland. Every pub and hotel bar I entered carried JD and JBW. None carried Dickel.According to the Dickel website, it is not exported. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camduncan Posted December 4, 2007 Share Posted December 4, 2007 I just returned from a few days in Ireland. Every pub and hotel bar I entered carried JD and JBW. None carried Dickel.In 2004, every pub in Scotland and England offered me Southern Comfort or Jack Daniels when I asked for bourbon. No bourbon to be found (until we hit the respective capital cities) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILLfarmboy Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 In 2004, every pub in Scotland and England offered me Southern Comfort or.... If this is what the average bar patron in the UK and Europe is being offered as representative of American whiskey I can see why so many on the other side of the pond have a generally low opinion of our native spirit.Time and time again I have noticed the same type of situation. Chaucer's Mead is the mead most likely to be encountered by someone searching for their first mead. Given that fact its no wonder mead is only a footnote in the world of alcoholic beverages. This "peculiarity" extends to all manner of consumer goods. When I first became interested in traditional wet shaving; using brush, soap and safety razor, Williams was the only soap that I could easily find just about anywhere. Its cheap, tends to dry your skin out and is hardly representative of many fine soaps out there. Were it not for the Internet and dogged determination to find something better I would still be living in ignorance. I guess my point in all this rambling is why are the only examples of products (American whiskey) that are ubiquitous always the worst examples of their category? This happens even when the price difference isn't particularly great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 So the worlds best selling whiskey is made in America. I like the sound of that.Regards,Squire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashRiley Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 My problem with JD is that I've seen it dumbed-down twice in the last 14 years, from 92 proof, to 86 proof, to 80 proof. To me, that makes it somewhat dishonest. It is no longer the JD of your father or grandfather. It is not Frank Sinatra's Jack Daniels, that's for sure.The JD folks claim that tasters can't detect an appreciable difference.So why would they do this? Taxes. They pay taxes on volume of alcohol produced.So to me, if you want honest Tennessee whiskey, drink George Dickel. It's still 92 proof and a LOT cheaper than JD, but I understand that a price increase might be coming very soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 ...if you want honest Tennessee whiskey, drink George Dickel. It's still 92 proof...Was it ever 92 proof? The current Dickels are 80 proof (black label), 90 (white label), and 86 (Special Barrel Reserve). Nor do I recall a Jack Daniel's at that proof. Its reduction to 86 was from 90. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashRiley Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Was it ever 92 proof? The current Dickels are 80 proof (black label), 90 (white label), and 86 (Special Barrel Reserve). Nor do I recall a Jack Daniel's at that proof. Its reduction to 86 was from 90.I beg your pardon. You are correct. 90 proof, not 92.Maybe age is catching up with me, but I would swear that the Jack Daniels that I was selling back in the early '90's was 92 proof. I could very well be wrong on that, it might only have been 90.My point though, is that Jack Daniels proof has been reduced twice in the last 15 years, and I think that's a shame. It's like they are turning their back on their own heritage. I'm sure that they would claim that they are "adjusting to the times", but if you are proud of your product, then why compromise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigthom Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 While taxes may be a factor, I think a bigger reason to lower proof from 90 to 80 is the 17% increase in inventory without making more whiskey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 The change from 86 to 80 proof drops an extra $17 million a year to the bottom line in tax savings alone, which dwarfs any savings in production costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasH Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I think that George Dickel and Wild Turkey have the same affliction, a seriously outdated website. A web check of Whisky Exchange(London) and Whisky Shoppe(Germany) confirm that Dickel in fact is being sold overseas. If its not export, it must be smuggled contraband. Seriously though, why would a company like Diageo, being a multinational with a large global reach in the scotch and Canadian whiskey business choose not to promote and export Dickel? Then again, they had the bright idea to to shut Dickel down for several years to begin with due to a "oversupply" of whiskey. Maybe their whiskey shortage that resulted in the #8 label being mostly withdrawn from the market was due to some actual export/smuggling!Thomas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barturtle Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I think that George Dickel and Wild Turkey have the same affliction, a seriously outdated website. A web check of Whisky Exchange(London) and Whisky Shoppe(Germany) confirm that Dickel in fact is being sold overseas. If its not export, it must be smuggled contraband. Seriously though, why would a company like Diageo, being a multinational with a large global reach in the scotch and Canadian whiskey business choose not to promote and export Dickel? Then again, they had the bright idea to to shut Dickel down for several years to begin with due to a "oversupply" of whiskey. Maybe their whiskey shortage that resulted in the #8 label being mostly withdrawn from the market was due to some actual export/smuggling!ThomasDickel has done a good job of updating their site, actually. Even keeping up when the Barrel Select changed bottle shapes..heck I can't find a mention of the #8 anywhere except the faq...which do need to be updated.As far as the Whisky Exchange, they do a damn good job of getting their hands on bottles that aren't normally available in the UK..Japanese WT Tribute and FR Premium and such. In no way would I use them as a guide of what is distributed in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffRenner Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Probably more than just "bottled" by Jim Beam, as I assume this was produced before Tennessee repealed its state prohibition. As can be seen from this higher quality photo (below) of the back label from the actual eBay page, it was distilled by Bernheim in Distillery No. 1 and bottled at IRS Bonded Distillery No. 46. More than likely it is bourbon from the time after Tennessee went dry (1910) and before prohibition. Actually, as can be seen in the photo below of the tax strip, it was bottled in 1939. There will be some amazing prices if that confiscated JD whiskey in Tennessee gets to market. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 ...There will be some amazing prices if that confiscated JD whiskey in Tennessee gets to market.JeffBut could a rare bottle of Jack Daniel's buy you $10,000 worth of votes?! My guess is that confiscated JD whiskey will wind up in the cabinets of influential legislators and/or liquor distributors.Make 'em dispose of it publicly, however they do it, I say!:bandit: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virus_Of_Life Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 I think that George Dickel and Wild Turkey have the same affliction, a seriously outdated website.I don't know about the Dickel site, but the WT site is quite out of date, like a joke out of date. They still show the old RR 101 bottle, no mention of the new American Spirit nor RR Rye and I think they show something for export, Freedom?, that hasn't been found in a long time meanwhile never even put anything up about Heritage which is now likely extinct.It is a shame that they don't keep it a little more up to date! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HighTower Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 I don't know about the Dickel site, but the WT site is quite out of date, like a joke out of date. They still show the old RR 101 bottle, no mention of the new American Spirit nor RR Rye and I think they show something for export, Freedom?, that hasn't been found in a long time meanwhile never even put anything up about Heritage which is now likely extinct.It is a shame that they don't keep it a little more up to date! I had a guy at work today asking if we had WTAS. I told him we didn't but I told him where to buy it and told him it was a great bourbon. He them tells me Wild Turkey are releasing something soon called "Freedom". I said "Don't count on it mate, it hasn't been around since 2004, which is probably the last time WT updated their website" And he thought he knew so much....... Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 This may be old info but I found this comment re Ole Blue Eyes:"Frank Sinatra's favorite was Jack Daniels on the rocks, and fellow rat-packer Sammy Davis Jr. enjoyed it with ginger ale." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I believe it was the band leader Phil Harris who introduced Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey to the Hollywood crowd. He knew everybody, was a larger than life sort of guy, a national figure in radio and movies and helped the new up and comers like Crosby and, later, Sinatra. Gracie Allen once said Phil was always late for the live broadcasts of the radio Burns & Allen show and when he showed up looked and smelled 'like he'd just left a bar or a woman' . He convinced Alice Faye to marry him (she was the heroine in the first sound version King Kong movie) and during their more than 50 years of marriage always referred to her as "my girl". Louisiana state PBS did a special on Pete Fountain in the 1970s and got Mr. Harris to narrate. There is a scene of him leading a band down the street during Mardi Gras while they were playing 'When The Saints Go Marching In'. In step with the band he pulls out a pint bottle of Jack and takes a healthy slug. On Bourbon Street in New Orleans.Regards,Squire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 We cannot forget Lt. Colonel Frank Slade (Al Pacino) in Scent of a Woman having a love affair with Jack Daniels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigthom Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 He convinced Alice Faye to marry him (she was the heroine in the first sound version King Kong movie)While it's true that Alice Faye married Phil Harris, it's not true that she was in King Kong. That was Fay Wray."sound version of King Kong" implies that there was a silent version. There were no prior versions; the story and the beast were written for the 1933 movie. Willis O'Brien, the animator who brought King Kong to "life", did the wonderful special effects for the silent movie The Lost World, based on the Arthur Conan Doyle story. Maybe that's what you were thinking of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 Yea I think I got that mishmash of ideas from some late night special on Fay Wray that emphasized her silent screen career. I believe the 1933 version of King Kong was issued in both sound and silent versions.Squire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarV Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 This may be old info but I found this comment re Ole Blue Eyes:"Frank Sinatra's favorite was Jack Daniels on the rocks, and fellow rat-packer Sammy Davis Jr. enjoyed it with ginger ale."From what I understand Sinatra made it known in Playboy magazine about his preference for Jack Daniels in the early '50's and JD had trouble keeping up with demand after that.That is when Ezra Brooks bourbon came out to take advantage of the JD shortage. The EB label does look a lot like the JD label. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashRiley Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 I've always thought that the Evan Williams label looked too much like the Jack Daniel's label to be a coincidence.Isn't it sad that the Jack Daniel's whiskey of Frank Sinatra's era is no longer around? What we have is only 87% of what Sinatra had. Such a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarV Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 I've always thought that the Evan Williams label looked too much like the Jack Daniel's label to be a coincidence..Yeah me to, I'm sure it had an influence.But of the 3, I'll take EW or EB over JD anytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrashRiley Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 YBut of the 3, I'll take EW or EB over JD anytime.Amen to that. :drinking: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Yea, too many coincidences, even using a green label for the lower priced version.Squire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts