As I just tweeted about, the flyer for Liquor Depot this weekend contains a grevious error. Here you can see the segment of the flyer that concerned me:
Now everybody follow along here: Jack Daniels is not bourbon. For one thing, bourbon is (almost exclusively) from Kentucky. Lynchburg is in Tennessee.
There are in fact strict(ish) regulations about all this:
- Bourbon must be made of a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn.
- Bourbon must be distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume).
- Bourbon must contain no caramel coloring (E-150)
- Bourbon must be aged in new, charred oak aging barrels.
- Bourbon may not be introduced to the barrel at higher than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume).
- Bourbon which meets the above requirements and has been aged for a minimum of two years, may (but is not required to) be called Straight Bourbon.
- Bourbon aged for a period less than four years must be labeled with the duration of its aging.
- If an age is stated on the label, it must be the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle.
Jack Daniels, on the other hand, is made by filtering through charcoal into non-oak vats. It is not Bourbon.
Many of you may be dozing off at this point, and indeed several coworkers had a "who cares" attitude when from memory I started spouting off some of the fine details. I suppose its too much to expect a layperson to understand this. I do, however, hold a liquor store to higher standards.
Bonus Jack Daniels trivia: Moore County, where Lynchburg is located and where Jack Daniels is produced, is a dry county.
