Jack Daniel’s Twice Barreled Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

First off, the formal title of this whiskey is quite a mouthful, so forgive me for not using the every single word in the title of the article: Jack Daniel’s Twice Barreled Special Release Heritage Barrel Rye Whiskey. Still, I don’t think that sentence-length title is necessary to either identify or categorize this particular bottle. The major points are right there in my abridged version: it’s Jack Daniel’s rye, which means it is a very not Kentucky style, 70% rye content whiskey; and it has seen both primary and secondary maturation (i.e. finished) in new oak barrels. That first and standard stint of maturation was at least five years long, while the second for a particularly lengthy two years. The rye is bottled at 100 proof.

The heritage barrel becomes important only after its understood this is part of what I like to call the double new oak category of American whiskeys. When Jack Daniel’s does a heritage barrel treatment, those are heavily toasted rather than charred. That is a tweak on what is otherwise the doubling down on new oak barrel aging, which is where so much of the vanilla/caramel and certain spice flavors come from. Generally speaking, double new oak whiskeys like this one make excellent dessert digestifs.

The Whiskey
The coloring on this pour is deep, dark, but still predominately reddish amber. The nose leads with a spicy current akin to Constant Comment tea (orange zest, clove, cinnamon plus the black tea tannins) with a cocktail cherry dropped and stirred in. Underneath this, however, is a layer of caramel so thick you could stand a spoon up in it. Similar elements come over on the palate, only in an even heavier, blanket of a manner: a slow-rolling avalanche of molasses and vanilla coupled to notes of citrus zest, dried red berries, clove, cinnamon and traces of other cookie spices, plus a little tannin. The extra dose of new oak is what sings loudest in the finish, which runs predominately sweet rather than spices.

The Price
Officially, this JD Rye is supposed to be $75 a bottle. That is a very reasonable price to ask for it too.