BOTTLE DETAILS

• DISTILLER: Jack Daniel's Distillery
• MASH BILL: 80% Corn | 8% Rye | 12% Malted Barley
• AGE: 8 years
• YEAR: 2025
• PROOF: 100 (50% ABV)
• MSRP: $69.99
• BUY ONLINE: Wine Searcher

STEVE'S NOTES

SHARE WITH: All whiskey drinkers, whether newbies or veterans, can find lots to appreciate within this release's wide ranging virtues.

WORTH THE PRICE: One-hundred percent. This is a well-made product that justifies the cost and exceeds the value and quality of so many whiskies costing double and triple this price.

BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bottle.

OVERALL: If you're thinking this Single Barrel Heritage Barrel (SBHB) Tennessee Whiskey is just another Jack iteration with a unique proof and age, just know it ain't. Despite the first SBHB being released in 2018, I'd never heard of it until earlier this summer, when the shipment arrived at my door.

Several days after, on Zoom call with Chris Fletcher, a second-generation master distiller there, the press got his take on this whiskey's uniqueness:

• It uses Jack Daniel's classic mash bill, but its barrel entry proof was 100, 25 proof lower than usual.
• While standard J.D. barrels are toasted for 12 minutes prior to charring, this year's SBHB barrel was toasted for 24 minutes then given a flash char to qualify it as Tennessee whiskey.
• The first set of bottles in this release came from whiskies aged 8 years–a few months longer than most barrels following in this release–and bottled 100 proof. Since the proof at dumping was so close to 100, very little water was added for that step, plus filtration was light and simple.

"This kind of barrel (treatment) is all about maximizing sweet notes ... and trying to maximize wood sugars," Fletcher said. "There aren't a ton of wood sugars in oak, but sugar is soluble in water, not in ethanol. And if you're trying to maximize sheer sweetness from the barrel, lower entry proof will get you that sheer sweetness."

Such heavy-toast, low-char barrels harkened back to barrels sometimes used when Fletcher's grandfather, Frank Bobo, was Jack Daniel's master distiller. Before Bobo died several years ago, he told Fletcher that he wished toasting and charring were as precise then as it is now.

For us, "the barrel goes over a heat pod ... for about 12 minutes, breaking down the surface of the white oak, caramelizing wood sugars and tearing down hemicellulose fibers," he said. "That creates aromatics. That's where flavor is coming from."

Sipping a pour on the call, Fletcher described the whiskey's creamy texture, its brown sugar sweetness backed by "graham cracker, ginger candy, a little bit of fruit on tip of tongue, and caramelized banana." 

For me, that classic JD (Brown-Forman yeast, really) banana note is prominent, but more candied than usual; heavily laced with caramel. Like all Jacks, bright split cherry wood is also there along with baking spice, dried lemon and a little cardamom.

On the palate, its 100 proof delivers satisfying spice and tingle while staying supple and enjoyable neat. Toasted oak is prominent, but not in the heavy-handed, newly sawn lumber way of many toasted barrels that dominate the maturate resting within them. Toasting here levers up pleasant sweetness and honeyed back notes that come forward well in advance of wood notes that mostly speak to spice rather than simple oak. The balance between delicate flavors and wood finesse is perfect in this release.

BRAND NOTES

To craft the expression, Jack Daniel’s classic Tennessee Whiskey mash bill of 80% corn, 12% malted barley, and 8% rye, is distilled and mellowed through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal. Barrels are prepared with a high-toast, low-char toasting technique inspired by the earliest barrel-making traditions, creating a deeper, richer toasted layer before the barrel is charred. The whiskey then enters the Heritage Barrels at a lower proof of 100 and is matured in some of the highest-elevated barrel houses in Lynchburg, Tennessee. While each barrel will vary in age, all Single Barrel Heritage Barrels are matured for at least seven years.

Offered at 100 proof (50% ABV), Single Barrel Heritage Barrel has a soft oak nose, warm notes of honey and candied fruit across the palate, and a lingering finish of brown sugar.

Disclaimer: Bourbon & Banter received a sample of this product from the brand for review. We appreciate their willingness to allow us to review their products with no strings attached. Thank you.