How Jack Daniel's toe got broke
And why whiskey drinkers toast that toe every autumn
Every September, drinkers and fans around the world host a birthday party for Jasper Newton “Jack” Daniel, the American distiller whose tipple in the iconic square bottle has become the best-selling whiskey in the world. On September 27, Daniel’s 162nd birthday party was held in Bangkok at the Esplanade Ratchada with music, games and a lot of whiskey.
Actually no one knows the founder’s exact date of birth. A town fire destroyed the courthouse records and conflicting dates on Daniel’s and his mother’s headstones have left it in question. It’s customary, though, for loyal drinks all over the world to celebrate Daniel’s birthday in September, so he gets a whole month – and we do, too – to celebrate his masterly creation of sour mash Tennessee whiskey.
As the story goes, Daniel arrived at work early one morning and tried to open the safe in his office. He couldn’t recall the combination, and in his frustration, he gave that safe a good kick. The blow broke his toe and infection set in, leading to the blood poisoning that would take his life in 1911.
His last words were “One last drink, please.”
This incident was the subject of a marketing poster used on the London Underground in January 2006, with the line “Moral: Never go to work early.”
Because he never married or had children, he deeded the distillery to his hard-working nephew Lem Motlow. In 1956 the company was acquired by Brown-Forman Corp.
The best-known variety of the brand is Jack Daniel’s Old No 7 Tennessee Whiskey, made by mellowing whiskey drop by drop through ten feet of sugar maple charcoal. Are there other varieties with different number? No one knows. Some say that Jack Daniel had 7 girlfriends, or that the way he wrote his “J” looked like a 7. Some say he chose the number 7 simply because it’s lucky. Only Daniel knew the real reason, and he took it with him to the grave.
There’s also Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel, which is made using the exacting standards of Old No 7 Tennessee Whiskey. Single Barrel is also charcoal mellowed and matured in new charred white oak barrels. But where Single Barrel rests makes all the difference. Since it’s placed in an area of the barrelhouse where the spirit enjoys a more intense fluctuation within the barrel, what emerges is a unique rich, robust whiskey.
Jack Daniel knew what charcoal mellowing meant for his whiskey, so it’s only natural that he’d wonder what a second trip through the charcoal might yield. Throughout his life, he experimented with charcoal mellowing his whiskey twice, once before it went into the barrel and again after it came out. Fortunately he kept the recipe. And in 1988, the distillery started making Gentleman Jack, the first new whiskey from the Jack Daniel Distillery in more than 100 years.
There are no serving suggestions. Jack Daniel can be enjoyed either on its own or in whiskey-based cocktails.
Try a Cranberry Jack, which is simply a mix of Old No 7, cranberry juice, Chambord and a splash of Sprite over a glass full of ice. For an even more elegant drink, try Gentleman Jack and Berry in a martini glass with Gentleman Jack, orange bitter, Chambord, cranberry juice and fresh raspberry as garnish.
But nothing beats the simple and substantial Jack and Coke – one of the world’s simplest and most popular concoctions. There’s no need to arm your bar with crates of soda and cola anymore as the company has launched Jack Daniel’s and cola ready-to-drink version. Just pop up a cap on a chilled bottle, and you’ll get a fresh mix of Jack Daniel’s own recipe.
