Distillery Tour Directions Distillery Tour Photos Visitor Center Stop One: - Jack Daniel's Office Stop Two & Three: - Cave Spring - The Rickyard Stop Four & Five - The Mash - The Copper Stills Stop Six & Seven - Charcoal Mellowing - White Oak Barrels Stop Eight - Old No. 7

Up until this point, the process for making Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is pretty much the same as for making Bourbon. But we believe our unique charcoal mellowing process makes a great difference, and the United States federal government agrees. That's why they have placed Jack Daniel's in a special category -- Tennessee Whiskey -- apart from Bourbon, Canadian, Rye and the rest.

It is during charcoal mellowing that Jack Daniel's steps out of the ordinary and into a class by itself. Charcoal mellowing is the art of filtering freshly distilled whiskey through our own specially made charcoal. It is a slow and tedious process. The huge old mellowing tanks are firmly packed with the ground charcoal made in our rickyard. The 140-proof whiskey is allowed to seep very slowly, drop by drop, through 10 feet of charcoal. Mellowing removes the unpleasant oils that are always present in any grain alcohol.

As you might imagine, the mellowing process takes some attention. The only way to know when the charcoal needs to be replaced is by taste. Of course, it's never hard to find folks willing to work this job.

We like to think of charcoal mellowing as an "extra blessing" giving our whiskey a head start on its way to becoming smooth, mellow Jack Daniel's. It takes about 12 days for the whiskey to mellow slowly through the charcoal, but we think the change in the whiskey is well worth the time and trouble.

Speaking of charcoal mellowing, a few years ago we introduced a new whiskey that takes a double blessing from our mellowing process-- Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee Whiskey.


After charcoal mellowing, whiskey is lowered to 110 proof and placed into new, charred, white oak barrels for aging. The barrels are stacked many stories high in barrel houses located throughout the hollow.

As passing seasons cause temperatures to change, the barrels expand and contract, forcing the whiskey in and out of the wood. This is how Jack Daniel's gets its dark amber color. Our expert tasters determine when the whiskey has reached maturity and is ready to be bottled.

Long before our whiskey is placed into barrels, its character has already been decided. Our charcoal mellowing process gives our whiskey its old-time Tennessee Whiskey smooth character and flavor.

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