Whisky Advocate Blog » Jack Daniel’s

Have you seen the History Channel show on Whiskey?

John Hansell — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:17:32 +0000

A couple years ago, the History Channel featured a one-hour show titled “Whiskey.” It is part of their popular series called Modern Marvels. They’ve run the show again several times since then. I mentioned it here before for two reasons:

It’s a very entertaining and informative show that I think will appeal to both the novice and seasoned whisky enthusiast.
I’m interviewed several times during the show. (Let that be a warning to you…)

If you still haven’t had a chance to see it, or if you would like to watch it again, you can now catch it on Hulu. I’m including the link here. They excluded most of the commercials (thankfully), so the show is only about 45 minutes.

Check it out. One bit of advice: having a whisky in your hand while watching it only enhances the pleasure!

Yet another misleading Scotch (and American) whisky article by a major publication

John Hansell — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:47:12 +0000

This time it’s Forbes. You can read the full story here.

As I was reading through the article, I kept saying “That’s misleading. That’s not really true. That’s not fair.”

Read the article. Do you see anything misleading? If so, which statement is it? I’m in meetings most of the day, but will chime in later.

Single barrel bottling variation: big or small?

John Hansell — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:56:33 +0000

The are a lot of single barrel bottlings on the market, from the small independent bottlers to the big multinational congomerates. Evan Williams Single Barrel, Jack Daniels Single Barrel, Balvenie 15 year old Single Barrel: these are just a few of the more familiar ones.

So, my question is this: How much do single barrel bottlings differ from one barrel to the next?

No two barrels are the same, and that’s the charm of single barrel bottlings. But what are the chances that the next bottle you buy from that brand will taste drastically different than the last one?

Is it your experience that the variation from one single barrel bottling to another is relatively small, or have you noticed big differences? Be specific if you can.

Bourbon, Tennessee whiskey market looking up, thanks to overseas sales

John Hansell — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:48:51 +0000

Here’s an interesting article published by Reuters over the weekend. Positive signs for American whiskey, thanks to demand overseas.

RIP: Jimmy Bedford, Retired Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller

John Hansell — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:53:10 +0000

The whiskey industry lost a legend yesterday. I am very sad to say that the AP reports that Jimmy Bedford, ex-Master Distiller for Jack Daniel’s passed away, apparently due to a heart attack. He was 69.

Jimmy worked at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery for 40 year, the last 20 as the Master Distiller before retiring last year.

He was a great ambassador for the whiskey industry, and was always pouring Jack Daniel’s at our WhiskyFests. In fact, he was at our very first WhiskyFest in New York in November 1998, and he signed and dated a bottle of JD Single Barrel for me that night, which I have sitting on the coffee table in front of me.

I was very sad when he retired. And now this…

Jimmy, I will have a good measure of JD Single Barrel tonight in your name. I encourage the rest of you to do the same for the man who worked tirelessly to promote this great American spirit.

History Channel “Whiskey” show rebroadcasts on St. Patrick’s Day

John Hansell — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:40:38 +0000

In case you missed it when it originally broadcasted on St. Patrick’s day last year, the History Channel’s Modern Marvel’s series “Whiskey” show will be rebroadcasted on March 17, 2009 at 10 AM and 4 PM. (That means you can learn about whiskey and then still go out later on and drink it!)

If you haven’t seen it yet, it is informative and entertaining. And yes, you’ll have to put up with several quotes from me throughout the show. I tagged some of the distilleries that they visit during the show.

If anyone wants to really see the difference between bourbon and Tennessee whiskey, this is the show to watch. They show the sugar maple charcoal mellowing vats. In fact, they actually show the sugar maple being burned to make the charcoal. Cool stuff!