I’d like to thank the folks at Jack Daniel’s for providing this review sample with no strings attached.
We are going to do something a little bit different tonight. Usually, my wife and I do our tasting notes on Sunday afternoon. It’s a nice relaxing weekend activity that allows us to have plenty of time to think about our notes before publishing. Then when I’m writing we enjoy a little of that night’s topic just to verify that we hadn’t gone completely crazy on Sunday. Well, tonight I called a last-minute audible. These notes are from tonight and I had never tasted this product before 1 pm this afternoon.
You might be asking why I was drinking at 1 pm on a Thursday afternoon. And that would be an understandable question. Well, today I had the opportunity to have my very first Zoom call. And it happened to be with the new Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Chris Fletcher.
Which is where the booze came in.
See this was a call with other writers to introduce the 2020 Jack Daniel’s Special Release. Being an opinion writer and not a reporter, I didn’t have many questions. But luckily for you, the other writers did. Here is what I learned about this particular release.
The whiskey in this release was distilled in January 2015, so it is in the 5-6 year range. That is typical for Jack Daniel’s single barrel releases.
The mashbill is 70% Rye, 12% Malted Barley and 18% Corn which is the same as their other rye releases.
Jack Daniel’s rye distillate is run through 3 feet of charcoal before barreling instead of the 10 feet that their “bourbon mashbill” is run through.
Their Master Distiller used the words “Bourbon Mashbill” to describe their non-rye whiskey.
The majority of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrels come from the top floors of about 30-40 of their warehouses that had been previously identified as producing good single barrels. This release came from those same areas.
There were 200 barrels in this release and they got about 130-150 bottles per barrel.
The sample release of 130.8° proof is about average for their whiskey barrels after 5-6 years.
This release was non-chill filtered, only being run through a single cellulose pad to keep the barrel chunks out of the bottles.
This began to roll out nationwide at the end of November and the suggested retail price is $64.99.
Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Special Release 2020: Barrel Proof Rye
Purchase info: This sample was graciously provided by Jack Daniel’s for review purposes. Suggested retail price is $64.99 for a 750 mL bottle.
Price per Drink (50mL): $4.33
Details: 5-6 years old (unofficially as isn’t on the label). 65.4% ABV.
Nose: Cinnamon red hots, brown sugar, maple, vanilla, and chocolate.
Mouth: Spearmint, spicy cinnamon, dusty oak, barrel char, maple, vanilla, and dark chocolate.
Finish: Long and warm with lingering mint, cinnamon, and barrel stave.
Thoughts: I will be specifically looking for this on every trip to the liquor store for the next while. It’s a delicious rye whiskey. I'm a fan of the single barrel rye that is on shelves year-round, but it really sings at barrel proof. I really like this one.
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