# What’s your opinion of Jack Daniels? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 2, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088 "2019-08-02T21:34:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/41 "2019-08-08T14:45:30Z")
It’s perfectly nice. Not mindblowing, but I can drink it neat without having any unpleasant aftertastes or anything like that, and it’s not single-malt priced, so it’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/42 "2019-08-08T18:09:16Z")
Haven’t drank in many a year, but I remember it as being delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/43 "2019-08-08T18:55:40Z")
I don’t know much about pricy liquor, because I’m very cheap and frugal. To me jack Daniel’s is expensive at $25 fifth when a handle of many other brands is under $20. And I know JD isn’t even pricy liquor. The most expensive whiskey I’ve tried is makers mark and I wasn’t impressed by it. In the times I’ve tried JD I wasn’t impressed (jack Daniel’s Tennessee cider is good though). I’m not sure where the brand loyalty to Jack Daniel’s comes from but there seems to be a strong loyalty to it. Having said that I have tried a wide range of cheap alcohols over the years (under $20 for a 1.75L handle). Old crow whiskey and prestige vodka are the best of the dozens I’ve tried. Smirnoff is good too. Also a drink I really enjoy is angry balls. It’s a boiler make made with hard cider and fireball whiskey instead of whiskey and beer. Put that in the microwave for ten seconds or so. It’s a great holiday drink. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/44 "2019-08-09T17:30:42Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > and easier to drink with every glass. > j Sorry, to break the news to you, but this is true for every liquor: First: “Damn, this first sip of bottom-shelf rotgut is pretty bad” 2nd: “Hmm, yeah, pretty bad, but it’s drinkable” 3rd: “You know what, this is slipping down pretty good” 4th: “not sure why I spend the extra money for the upper-shelf stuff” . . . Tapping last drop out of bottle: “shhhhhhhhhhhhhtttttt, not baddddtalllll _hick__snore_” ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/45 "2019-08-09T18:22:33Z")
Disgusting on it’s own. Ok in Coke, though not my favorite mixed drink by far. However, I don’t like any hard alcohol straight. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/46 "2019-08-09T21:16:19Z")
I haven’t had Jack Daniels in years, and to be honest, I’d be a bit afraid to try. The one time in my life I drank to the point of vomiting (followed by ten minutes of dry heaves), I was drinking Jack Daniels mixed with Welch’s Grape Soda. Yes, I know, disgusting; I was young, didn’t really like alcohol, but did have a raging sweet tooth (both still true). That mixture also gave me my only real hangover, too. I suspect a sniff of the odor would bring back some very unpleasant memories. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/47 "2019-08-09T21:48:16Z")
To me, Jack is just way too much of everything. Too sweet, too smoky, too heavy. If that’s what’s on offer, I have to mask it with Coke, lime, dash of bitters. I’m not a fancy whisky drinker; my go-to is Canadian Club and soda. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/48 "2019-08-09T21:52:19Z")
It’s okay. Never my first choice of whiskies either straight or mixed, though. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/49 "2019-08-09T22:11:15Z")
It’s delicious. But not my first choice at that price point. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/50 "2019-08-09T22:14:08Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Sorry, to break the news to you, but this is true for every liquor: > > First: “Damn, this first sip of bottom-shelf rotgut is pretty bad” > 2nd: “Hmm, yeah, pretty bad, but it’s drinkable” > 3rd: “You know what, this is slipping down pretty good” > 4th: “not sure why I spend the extra money for the upper-shelf stuff” > . > . > . > Tapping last drop out of bottle: “shhhhhhhhhhhhhtttttt, not baddddtalllll _hick__snore_” You forgot “wake up three hours later to puke booze and baby carrot chunks all over your friend’s white rug” and "spend next three hours cleaning up booze and baby carrot puke out of said carpet while massively hungover " ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/51 "2019-08-09T22:16:21Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Jack is not a bourbon, it is in the category of Tennessee whiskey. Tennessee whiskey is a type of bourbon. All Tennessee whiskey is bourbon. Jack Daniels is bourbon. You can sell a sandwich as a Manwich if you want, and you can even copyright what a Manwich is, but you don’t get to redefine the meaning of sandwich. A Manwich is still a sandwich. Jack Daniels is bourbon. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/52 "2019-08-10T13:33:22Z")
Overpriced for what it is. If I’m going to use a mixer I’ll buy Even Williams. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/53 "2019-08-10T14:26:03Z")
Doesn’t the state of Kentucky exercise some kind of legal right to the term “Bourbon,” seeing that Bourbon county is in Kentucky? I know that when a New Hampshire maple farm sold their syrup as “Made in Vermont,” Vermont stomped them down right quick. As for Tennessee whiskey — none of which have “Bourbon” on their labels — I enjoy George Dickel very much (it’s high-priced in NYS, but fairly cheap in Maine, where i spend a couple weeks each summer), and haven’t tasted Jack in many years. Sadly, I have to take my place as one of the cash-poor boozehounds around here. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/54 "2019-08-10T15:21:40Z")
Kentucky doesn’t have any say in it - the Feds do. And they say “bourbon” can be made anywhere in the USA. \*The Federal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits state that bourbon made for U.S. consumption[21] must be: Produced in the United States[22] Made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn[23] Aged in new, charred oak containers[23] Distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume)[23] Entered into the container for aging at no more than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume)[23] Bottled (like other whiskeys) at 80 proof or more (40% alcohol by volume)[24]\* ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/55 "2019-08-10T15:37:04Z")
I thought the Black Label JD was okay on the first try. The next time I bought it, I liked it far less. It’s fine for mixing but not much else. Plenty of other stuff on the shelf is far superior. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/56 "2019-08-10T22:50:27Z")
If you offered me a Jack Daniels, neat, I would drink a Jack Daniels, neat. If you asked me what I want to drink, well, Jack won’t top my list. Not overly fond of bourbon in general, though some small-batch offerings I’ve had were quite nice. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/57 "2019-08-11T02:57:38Z")
Just today I got a flyer that came from my Great Grandpa who had a general store in rural TN in the late 1800’s early 1900’s. It is an order flyer from at least 1913 (they list an award for that year). It is for all Jack Daniel’s products available. Old No 7 (green label) is $5.00 per gallon. Uncle Jack Straight Tennessee Whiskey is $3.50 per gallon. Topaz Corn Whiskey is $4.00 per gallon. Lem Motlow’s Apple Brandy is $6.00 per gallon, and Pure Corn 100 Proof Whiskey is $3.00 per gallon. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/58 "2019-08-11T19:11:28Z")
In effect, Jack Daniels meets every legal requirement to be called bourbon, but they’re just not calling it that for marketing reasons. Even the state law in Tennessee defines it as effectively being bourbon using the Lincoln County Process. ([https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5101b837e4b0202016c6b5c9/t/52363a84e4b0855d9f5aca50/1379285636684/Tennesee+Whiskey+Law.pdf](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5101b837e4b0202016c6b5c9/t/52363a84e4b0855d9f5aca50/1379285636684/Tennesee+Whiskey+Law.pdf)) Federally speaking, there is no category for Tennessee whiskey, so legally it’s a bourbon as far as the Federal government is concerned. And NAFTA’s description is: > [@](#): > > 1. Canada and Mexico shall recognize Bourbon Whiskey and Tennessee Whiskey, which is a straight Bourbon Whiskey authorized to be produced only in the State of Tennessee, as distinctive products of the United States. Accordingly, Canada and Mexico shall not permit the sale of any product as Bourbon Whiskey or Tennessee Whiskey, unless it has been manufactured in the United States in accordance with the laws and regulations of the United States governing the manufacture of Bourbon Whiskey and Tennessee Whiskey. So the people in Lynchburg might want to claim it’s something different, but the truth is that Tennessee whiskey is legally speaking, a subset of bourbon, as in all Tennessee whiskeys are bourbons, but not all bourbons are Tennessee whiskeys. And it’s essentially interchangeable in applications that call for bourbon- you can make a perfectly good Old Fashioned with Jack Daniels if you want, for example. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/59 "2019-08-12T03:07:02Z")
Their renown is certainly a product of a LOT of marketing - I’ve been to London a few times in the past year or so, and the J&D ads in the tube stood out to me - they were of the black & white photo of old folks sitting on a porch, “Here in Lynchburg, pop. 69, we do things the old fashioned way (like heavily advertising in London subways?)” sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088/60 "2019-08-12T18:32:12Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Their renown is certainly a product of a LOT of marketing - I’ve been to London a few times in the past year or so, and the J&D ads in the tube stood out to me - they were of the black & white photo of old folks sitting on a porch, “Here in Lynchburg, pop. 69, we do things the old fashioned way (like heavily advertising in London subways?)” sort of thing. They’re the American whiskey counterpart to the other heavily marketed, but mid-range liquors such as Bacardi, Jose Cuervo, Smirnoff Vodka, Crown Royal Canadian whiskey and Johnnie Walker scotch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-your-opinion-of-jack-daniels/838088.md?page=4)