Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select with Matt, Marie-Michèle & Julia

Jack Daniel’s. You know it, you’ve had it. But you may not have had this. As the name suggests, this is bottled from a single barrel of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey.

Okay, so why is that interesting? Because coming from a single barrel limits gives us the best indication of what Jack Daniel’s whiskey tastes like at its most fundamental. Typically, all whiskey is some kind of blend – a blend of different barrels of the same whiskey all the way up to blends of various different grains.

You know this, we’ve talked about it many times. In this case, Jack Daniel’s is actually exceeding the “single malt scotch” “standard” but limiting the bottling to the contents of one barrel. Obviously, this has risks, but it allows for a singular expression to represent the brand. Here’s what we thought:

nose
Simon – maple
Matt – woody, slight sweet, nectar, oaky
Marie-Michele – alcohol, butterscotch
Julia – spicy sweet

neat
Simon – smooth, caramel burnt sugar
Matt – wooden
Marie-Michele – burn
Julia – burn in chest

finish
Simon – lingering velvet
Matt – leathery, fuzzy side of velcro, flavour carries
Marie-Michele – n/a
Julia – licorice

splash
Simon – smooth but odd flavour
Matt – sweeter, burn gone
Marie-Michele – nutmeg
Julia – better

overall
Simon – 7.5/10
Matt – 9/10
Marie-Michele – 7/10
Julia – 7/10

Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select – 45% 1l – $$ – Tennessee

Try it? Yes! Buy it? Price dependent. At the LCBO’s asking price for 750ml ($54.95), no.