Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series Anejo Barrel Finished Tennessee Whiskey

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

The Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series, originally known as Tasters Selection, is now in its eleventh installment. During that time, the series has done a variety of iterations with their staple Tennessee Whiskey, such as finishing it in smoked hickory wood barrels and doing the barrel goes to beer than back to whiskey cycle. This most recent version is, I think, one of the simplest but also among the most successful examples of both the series and its broader class to come down the pike yet: they put a tequila finish on it.

Heretofore, I haven’t found any of tequila finished whiskeys all that impressive, so much so that I’ve passed on reviewing them. Although I never shy away from handing out a low grade to a whiskey on this website, I also don’t go around seeking opportunities to do so. I think the difference here is that 1) Jack Daniel’s knows what they are doing; and 2) they accordingly reached for used anejo barrels to do so. Anejo is a particular type of tequila that has been aged in casks no larger than 600 liters for one to three years (an ASB is 53 gallons/200 liters). Many of the better anejo tequilas are aged in new American oak barrels sourced from American coopers who make barrels for the whiskey industry.

Selected by Jack Daniel’s Taster Danny Lamb, Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series #11 is bottled at 90 proof in 375ml bottles.

The Whiskey
Describing this whiskey is pretty simple: take the staple Jack Daniel’s flavor profile of a sweet, mellow current of brown sugar and vanilla custard, accented by notes of banana, maple and nuts, plus a dash of cookie spice. It is a profile that should be familiar to anyone fancying herself as a whiskey enthusiast. Now play up the cookie spices to the point of creating a properly dry, spicy note, and give the whole thing earthy aspect. It’s supremely yummy and is the first example of an effective use of a tequila barrel finish I’ve tried.

The Price
This one has a suggested retail price of $41.99. For the curious and fans of JD, it’s worth.