Jack Daniel's Bonded Follows Whiskey Rules Most Bottles Don't

You don't need to tell Jack Daniel's fans twice how special their beloved spirit is. Folks who love the Tennessee whiskey tend to really love it, while the rest of us are more inclined to tinker with soda upgrades to improve those titular Jack and Cokes. The iconic spirit has plenty of notable elements that combine to make it the American classic it is; every Jack Daniel's charred, white oak barrel is handcrafted, for example, which lends the mass liquor maker at least one snowflake quality. There's also the booze created for the Jack Daniel's Bonded series, which meets legal requirements to achieve the "bottled in bond" designation. This is elective in the wider alcohol industry, but it's come to signal quality nonetheless.

To be bottled in bond, a whiskey must check some boxes first put in place back in 1897. Perhaps foreshadowing today's focus on seasonality, bonded whiskey must be the product of one distillation season, and must be limited to a single distiller at a single distillery. Bonded whiskey must also age a minimum of four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and must be bottled at exactly 100 proof. The impact of some of these mandates might escape all but the most learned whiskey experts, but others, such as the age, are more apparent to the everyday sipper.

Whiskey needn't be bottled in bond to make it to shelves any more than sparkling wine needs to be Champagne to properly pop a cork, but you can't lend either name to something that doesn't properly align with the formal rules. While a lot of folks probably can't tell you whether one bottle of whiskey's particular blend of corn, barley, and rye was truly from a single season, they're more likely to taste the difference in age. There are variations between brands, geographical regions, and other factors, but a Tennessee whiskey aged for four years generally registers as smoother than something much younger to most tasters. 

Tasters should also notice how the three varieties available in the Jack Daniel's Bonded series diverge from the regular blend they might be used to. The standard Jack Daniel's Bonded offers a bouquet of seared corn, caramel, vanilla, and butterscotch with a taste that Jack Daniel's describes as "toasted marshmallow and maple." The Jack Daniel's Bonded Triple Mash has a nose of "fruit, oak, and toast," and more of a woodsy, spiced honey flavor. The Jack Daniel's Bonded Rye, which we ranked the best out of six Jack Daniel's varieties, carries the aromas of pear and apple with a subtle, fruity vanilla sweetness. Of course, this is all in the eye of the beholder. If you don't pick up on any of these nuances, rest assured that your booze lives up to standards set well over a century ago.