r/Bourbon loves to get locked into a existential argument when the topic of Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 comes up. While Jack Daniel’s is a whiskey, it isn’t bourbon mostly because of an extra step (they actually meet all the criteria to technically be bourbon), charcoal mellowing. Once distilled, their whiskey is passed through maple charcoal for roughly 3-5 days. This process imparts additional flavors that Jack suggests are similar to a couple years in the barrel. Regardless of if this is true, they do have a loyal following, and it’s almost ubiquitously available the world over. So what’s it taste like?
Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7
- Filtration – Maple Charcoal Filtered at distillation
- Age – No Age Statement (N.A.S.)
- Proof – 80 (40% A.B.V.)
Sight: Amontillado Sherry to Deep Copper
Smell: The nose is soft with a nice amount of cinnamon, smokey wood, and vanilla. There’s a nice amount of caramelized sugar, Christmas spiced orange, and maple wood mixing in the nose as well. Beneath all of it is a little minerality.
Sip: The mouthfeel is light to moderate. Notes of charcoal, maple, wood, orange marmalade, and caramel come forward. The light mouthfeel leaves a bit of minerality and spice. A slightly fruity, almost cantaloupe or honeydew note occurs.
Savor: The ending has a slightly green wood and spice note.
Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 is light, slightly spicy, and decently mixed between sweet and earthy notes. There are nice occasional bumps of fruit. All those things combine to make a relatively pedestrian sipper that won’t really inspire much interest beyond mindless sipping.
In Cocktails
In a Manhattan there’s a lot of sweetness present from the caramel and vanilla notes. There’s a good amount of oak and maple (wood) going on here, with a slight amount of bitterness. Fruit is sort of present, but perhaps it’s more so the vermouth. The ending picks up the minerality. The flavor is distinctly a Manhattan, but with middling weight and relatively one note flavor.
In Review – Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7
Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 is a thoroughly average feeling whiskey. The flavor is pleasant if earthy and slightly more sweets forward. There’s nothing particularly deep here, but it also manages to avoid the overlap and cliché profiles of the broader bourbon market. If you like these flavors, then they deliver clearly in spades. Overall, the price point and availability place this right in the correct spot if you find you prefer Tennessee Whiskey to Kentucky Bourbon.