Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select Barrel Proof Tennessee Whiskey (750ml)

Ok, so we famously have to tell several people every week that we do not stock Jack Daniel's No 7. It's just never fit into our selection, although I will admit to personally going through a little phase in college back when I thought Rolling Rock was cool. I have Deer Hunter and an unhealthy obsession with Christopher Walkin to thank for that. 33 and a shot of Jack was the go to call at the bar for a while. To be honest that's what No. 7 is good for, shots. Sweet and easy with just enough of the sour bite at the end to remind you you're still alive. In my many years of buying spirits, I've been lucky enough to try some older bottlings of the world's most popular whiskey. Even the slightly different 86 proof offerings from the 1990s seemed extremely special compared to what's regularly available. Legends like the 90 proof from the 70s and earlier are hard to gauge as capacity has increased so much since then. Now most of the cynics will probably think I'm just jumping on the Jack train cause they paid us off or something. To be honest, we have absolutely no connection to Jack whatsoever. We have a great relationship with their parent company Brown Forman, but since we haven't sold Jack in a decade we just don't have a connection there. That all might change now that we've ordered everything that the distributor could get us, but for now we're going at it alone. Despite a lack of communication, they've finally listened to our (and many enthusiasts') grumblings and we're excited to announce the release Lynchburg's finest bottled at full cask strength. When you open the bottle you know instantly it's Jack. Big powerful fruit and sweet oak. Slightly hot on the nose, but ultra smooth on the palate even at 66.5% alcohol. Now here is the thing, add a tiny drop of cool spring water, give it some air maybe 10-15 minutes. You'll return to an utterly transcendent whiskey of extreme complexity and wild drinkability. Let's say this is now maybe 100 proofish and drinks like a dream. These are the flavors I remember from those old bottlings. We don't know how old it is, but goddang it's as delicious as anything coming out of Kentucky at this price point and easily bests bottles that are much much more expensive. If you like big bold flavors of cask strength whiskey, but don't want the bitter bite of some of the other stuff on the market than this stuff is for you. Of course, these are single casks and I've seen some reviews going absolutely wild for other barrels, but the one I tasted was No. 15-4973 at 66.5% and it works for me.