The history of the creation of the cult whiskey Jack Daniels

The distinctive feature of whiskey Jack Daniels, known for his iconic black and white label on the iconic square bottle, is that it is inextricably linked with the personality of only one person - Jack Daniel, who dedicated his life to creating the perfect drink.

He was born in Lincoln County (Tennessee) and was the youngest child in a family of ten children. My mother died when Jack was still very young. The father married another woman, who did not really like foster children. Aged six Jack Daniel went to live in his uncle's house in Lynchburg. A local priest, part-time distiller and store owner Dan Qol took the boy under his wing, hiring him to work. Jack did not show much interest in his duties, but he was attracted to the distillery. Dan noted Jack's curiosity and invited him to explore the whole technology. Kol taught him the "sour mash" method and the unique process of distilling whiskey "Lincoln County".

When the idea of the prohibition of alcohol spread throughout America, Dan Cola had to listen to his wife's preaching about the harm of alcoholic beverages. As a result, she managed to persuade her husband to sell a distillery to his student, for whom from that time began his journey to create a whiskey Jack Daniels - the best in the world.

He bought a new land near Lynchburg and moved his production there. In the area there was pure spring water and an abundance of sugar maples. At the age of 16, Daniel became the first US producer to register a distillery.

Thanks to filtration through charcoal and other production factors, he could be proud of his product and sell it at a price much higher than the cost price. But in the 1870s around Lynchburg he had many competitors who applied the same process. And Jack dreamed of a product that would be something special.

For production, he began using spring water from a limestone cave that does not contain iron, and also the best grains, filtering the drink through charcoal of sugar maple with a layer of three meters (successively replacing it).

With the participation in the competition at the World Fair in St. Louis, despite the strong competition, the new brand won a gold medal. This meant that it was provided by customers around the world. Unfortunately, the life of the creator of the famous whiskey Jack Daniels Was interrupted due to a rather strange incident that happened to him in 1907. Somehow Jack forgot the combination of numbers to open the safe. Frustrated, he kicked him, so hard that he broke his thumb. Over time, blood poisoning began, his health worsened, and in 1911 he died, never marrying and leaving an heir. The distillery was transferred to his nephew Lem Motlow, who continued to expand his business.

By the 1950s, sales of whiskey "Jack Daniels", reviews about which Passed from mouth to mouth, grew constantly. This could not help attracting the attention of the media. In 1951, an article about a unique alcoholic beverage was published in the famous business magazine Fortune, telling about its creation and the interest shown to it by many famous personalities, such as William Faulkner, Winston Churchill, John Huston. A similar article appeared in 1954 in the men's magazine "True", one of the most popular publications of its time. In it, attention was focused on the fact that whiskey Jack Daniels Was a favorite drink of show business stars - Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner. Sinatra called him "nectar for the gods" and even often wore a sweater with a patch for an imaginary club named after this drink.