Jack Daniel’s Tasters’ Selection Barrel Proof Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

Jack Daniel’s Tasters’ Selection Barrel Proof Rye
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Whenever a wholly new whiskey comes out and is established as a good one, I think the first question to follow should be “what will it be like at full proof/cask strength?” If it’s an American Whiskey and you aren’t asking that question, well, feel ashamed and check in your enthusiast credentials; you are officially suspended.

Indeed, an oft-spoken rule of our Deputy Editor and the steward of New York’s Whiskey Selections club, Kurt Maitland, is that upping the alcohol strength only makes things better. The unspoken part of that is only up to a certain point. We don’t believe all cask strength or full proof whiskeys are drinkable as-is for everyone. Where the line sits between strong and flavorful and too hot is different for everyone, but the virtue of having a high octane bottle is you can add water until said point is reached.

So, when Jack Daniel’s released their first full matured rye in 2016, their Single Barrel Rye, I began asking when it would come out in high octane form. The next step, though, was to put out a more normal, entry level version of their first truly new whiskey (i.e. new mash bill) in decades, which they did in 2017.

Now that high octane version is out, but in as a distillery-only, limited edition release: Jack Daniel’s Tasters’ Selection Barrel Proof Rye. If you like JD Rye, then you had better get moving and grab this one while you can.

The Whiskey
The Jack Barrel Proof Rye stuck with the standard rye coloring, which is to say copper rather than amber. The lower water content showed itself well in the thick, weighty tears that rolled down the inside of the glass.

A whiff showed that, at 63.8% ABV (over 127 proof!), this was too hot to drink as is, and I think that should be as damn near a universal statement as it gets. It wasn’t burning hot, but not dialing this whiskey down definitely means losing some of its best qualities. So, with a decent splash of water in, I picked up on anise, cinnammon, red fruit syrup, caramel and cedar in the nose.

As I wrote, the whiskey needed that water; it brought complexity out of that big, thick rye body. The taste was sweet, then spicy, then woody. It came on smooth and reminded me to some degree of a Milky Way bar, with a rich sweetness balanced by a certain earthy quality. Then came the spice, and finally cedar. The finish took the spiciness by the hand and trailed off with it.

This fits my bill for a mature rye whiskey perfectly: some complexity, very flavorful and so big-bodied that it will easily hold its own on the rocks or in a cocktail.

The Price
This is a distillery-only offering and comes in a 375 ml bottle, priced at $40.