JACK DANIELS STRAIGHT RYE WHISKEY

When enthusiasts talk about American rye whiskies, only a few distilleries come to mind. MGP in Indiana is perhaps the most well known but honorable mentions go to Michter’s, Heaven Hill and Buffalo Trace. But there is another company who lurks in the background – quietly owning the crown for most rye whiskey recipes produced over the last 10 years. That’s even if you ignore the fact that they produced rye whiskey for 2 other major distilleries. Which company am I talking about? It’s Brown-Forman. They are responsible for producing Rittenhouse for Heaven Hill in the late 90’s/early 2000s and Michter’s up until 2011.

Brown Forman’s 3 main distilleries: Early Times (now called Brown-Forman Distillery), Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel’s, each produce their own version of rye whiskey. Old Forester’s rye whiskey uses a mash bill of 65% rye, 15% corn and 20% malted barley. Woodford uses a 53/37/10 mash bill (and experimented with a 100% rye grain mash bill at one point). But it’s Jack Daniel’s, surprisingly, that has the highest rye grain content of all 3, coming in at 70% rye, 18% corn and 12% malted barley. All three distilleries use different distilling techniques and yeasts which is why they’re all going to taste different.