Jack Daniels

Forget all you know about Jack Daniels, whose basic Old No. 7 is the biggest selling American whiskey. In recent years, the Tennessee distillery has released a range of new expressions experimenting with different proofs, barrel selection, and ageing. At a Whiskey Squade meetup we tasted the No. 7 alongside five other offerings, and everyone left impressed. All the whiskies use the same mashbill: 80% corn, 12% barley, and 8% rye, which highlighted the different impacts of the other variables.

In drinking order we tasted:

Old No. 7
Aged for at least 4 years. 40% ABV/80 proof.

Gentleman Jack
Aged for at least 4 years. 40% ABV/80 proof.
Undergoes a second charcoal mellowing - after whiskey is matured in barrel and before bottling.

Bonded
Aged for at least 4 years. 50% ABV/100 proof.
According to the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, Bonded whiskies must be distilled from a single distillery in a single distillation season, aged in a federally bonded warehouse for at least 4 years and bottled at 100 proof.

Single Barrel Select
Aged for at least 4 years. 47% ABV/94 proof.
Specific barrels selected for darker color and bold oak character.

12 Year-Old (Batch 1, March 2023)
Aged for 12 years (duh). 53.5% ABV/107 proof.

Single Barrel, Barrel Proof
Aged for at least 4 years. 64.7% ABV/129.4 proof.
JD's first cask strength whiskey. Aged at top of warehouse. Minimal filtration. No water added.

The winners were the 12-year-old (rare, pricey, but really good), and the single barrel bottlings (both the select and barrel proof versions). I liked the Bonded too. Aside from the 12-year-old, all of these are pretty affordable and widely available, at least in Austin. Good work, Jack.

Fun JD facts:
-The distillery was established in 1866.
-It's located in a 'dry' county, which means the only alcohol you're permitted to buy in the area is a single commemorative bottling direct from the distillery.
-The sour mash method that's mentioned on the bottle is used by pretty much every whiskey producer in the US, and just means that some of the by-products of previous batches (wet solids) are mixed into the next mash to help achieve a more consistent fermentation (like a sourdough starter, perhaps).
-JD calls its spirit Tennessee whiskey rather than bourbon. What's the difference? JD is technically a bourbon as well, but to call itself a Tennessee whiskey the spirit needs to go through a charcoal filtering (a.k.a. Lincoln County) process, which according to JD makes things mellower.

Paloma

Given a bottle of tequila and a few minutes, I would normally gravitate towards making a Margarita or a Mexican Martini. Palomas, in my admittedly curbed experience, have always tasted to me like a classic spirit + mixer combo, a thin, weak long drink. Then I found a recipe that switches out the more commonly used grapefruit soda with fresh grapefruit juice. In Texas, the grapefruits are massive, abundant, and sweet, at least compared with the eye-wateringly astringent varieties you find in the UK. The resulting drink provides a fuller flavor and a thicker mouthfeel. It's a great balance between a short, boozy punch, and a longer, spritzier refresher. Consider it the utimate medium drink.

Paloma

2 oz blanco tequila
2 oz fresh grapefruit juice plus wedge for garnish
2 oz sparkling water
0.5 oz lime juice
0.25 oz agave nectar
Pinch of coarse sea salt*

Add the tequila, (strained) grapefruit juice, lime juice, agave nectar and salt to a shaker. Shake with ice. Add sparkling water. Strain into a tumber with fresh ice. Add grapefruit wedge for garnish.

*The recipe calls for a salted rim, but I prefer to throw a pinch of salt into the shaker to mainline the salinity.

See also: the Frozen Paloma, for those with access to a frozen margarita machine.