{{Short description|Type of American whiskey}} {{Redirect|Tennessee Whiskey|the David Allan Coe album|Tennessee Whiskey (album){{!}}''Tennessee Whiskey'' (album)|the song by David Allan Coe made famous by George Jones|Tennessee Whiskey (song)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}} [[File:Whiskey barrels.jpg|thumb|Whiskey being aged at Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg]] [[File:GeorgeDickelDistillery.jpg|thumb|The George Dickel distillery in Tullahoma ]] '''Tennessee whiskey''' is straight whiskey produced in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Although it has been legally defined as a bourbon whiskey in some international trade agreements,<ref name="nafta313">{{Cite web |title=North American Free Trade Agreement Annex 313: Distinctive products |url=http://www.sice.oas.org/trade/nafta/chap-034.asp |access-date=April 12, 2013 |publisher=Sice.oas.org}}</ref><ref name=SICE/><ref name=Canada/> most current producers of Tennessee whiskey disclaim references to their products as "bourbon" and do not label them as such on any of their bottles or advertising materials. All current Tennessee whiskey producers are required by Tennessee law to produce their whiskeys in Tennessee and – with the sole exception of Benjamin Prichard's – to use a filtering step known as the Lincoln County Process prior to aging the whiskey. Beyond the perceived marketing value of the distinction, Tennessee whiskey and bourbon have almost identical requirements, and most Tennessee whiskeys meet the criteria for bourbon.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Beginner's Guide to Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey |language=en |work=Paste Magazine|first1=Clair|last1=McLafferty|date=2014-12-05|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/12/beginners-guide-to-bourbon-and-tennessee-whiskey.html |access-date=2018-09-23}}</ref>
Tennessee whiskey is one of the top ten exports of Tennessee.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |title=Jack Daniel denounces barrel legislation |language=en |work=Tullahoma News |url=https://www.tullahomanews.com/news/local/jack-daniel-denounces-barrel-legislation/article_c9b16298-1214-588a-88b0-60554367dc8e.html |access-date=2018-09-23}}</ref> According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, as of 2013, the U.S. market for bourbon and Tennessee whiskey reached $2.4 billion, and exports of bourbon and Tennessee whiskey grew to exceed $1 billion.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Bourbon and TN Whiskey Drive Export Records in 2013 – Distilled Spirits Council |url=https://www.distilledspirits.org/news/u-s-bourbon-and-tn-whiskey-drive-export-records-in-2013/ |access-date=2018-09-23 |website=www.distilledspirits.org |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140213084059/http://www.discus.org/assets/1/7/Distilled_Spirits_Industry_Briefing_Feb_4_2014.pdf Distilled Spirits Council Industry Review], Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, February 4, 2014.</ref> There are two major producers of Tennessee whiskey, Jack Daniel's based in Lynchburg (owned by the Louisville-based Brown–Forman) and George Dickel based in Cascade Hollow near Tullahoma (owned by the London-based Diageo), as well as numerous locally based producers throughout the state. In June 2017, the Tennessee Distillers Guild launched the Tennessee Whiskey Trail, a 25-stop distillery tour across the state, to further promote Tennessee whiskey and local whiskey culture.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 20, 2017 |title=Tennessee Whiskey Trail Features 25 Distilleries Across the State |language=en-US |work=Cocktail Enthusiast |url=http://cocktailenthusiast.com/tennessee-whiskey-trail |access-date=June 20, 2017}}</ref>
==History== Whiskey production in Tennessee started with the emigration of Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania and Virginia.<ref>{{harvnb|Waymack|Harris|1995|p=170}}</ref> President Andrew Jackson served Tennessee whiskey in the White House, a custom continued by James Polk.<ref>{{harvnb|Waymack|Harris|1995|p=173}}</ref> Filtering of whiskey through maple charcoal was practiced as early as 1825 by Alfred Eaton in Tullahoma, though the process was likely used earlier outside of Tennessee.<ref>{{harvnb|Waymack|Harris|1995|pp=175–176}}</ref> Jack Daniel's was established as a brand in 1875.<ref name="TennLibrary">{{Cite web |title=Tennessee Myths and Legends |url=http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/exhibits/myth/mythcellaneous.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224174012/http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/exhibits/myth/mythcellaneous.htm |archive-date=December 24, 2013 |access-date=July 23, 2012 |publisher=Tennessee State Library and Archives}}</ref><ref name="KrassBlood">{{Cite book |last=Krass |first=Peter |title=Blood and whiskey: the life and times of Jack Daniel |publisher=Wiley |year=2004 |isbn=0-471-27392-9 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey}}</ref> By the end of the 19th century, there were over 700 licensed distilleries in the state.<ref>{{harvnb|Waymack|Harris|1995|p=182}}</ref>Robertson County, which in the 19th century distilled more whiskey than any other county in the state, produced a "distinctive" sour mash whiskey that was said to be "similar to, but not quite the same as, Kentucky bourbon."<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Gaston |first=Kay Baker |date=1984 |title=Robertson County Distilleries, 1796–1909 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42626422 |journal=Tennessee Historical Quarterly |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=49–67 |jstor=42626422 |issn=0040-3261}}</ref>
Statewide prohibition on the sale and manufacture of alcohol took effect in 1910, wiping out the industry. Following repeal in 1933, Jack Daniel's moved operations back to Lynchburg (the company's attempts at production in Missouri and Alabama did not yield any saleable product) as the first distillery to open post-Prohibition. The next distillery to be licensed in the state, George Dickel, followed in 1958 as a revived brand.<ref>{{harvnb|Waymack|Harris|1995|p=204}}</ref>
==Lincoln County Process== {{main|Lincoln County Process}} Nearly all Tennessee whiskeys undergo a filtering stage called the Lincoln County Process, in which the whiskey is filtered through (or steeped in) a thick layer of maple charcoal before it is put into new charred oak barrels for aging.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lincoln County Process |url=http://whiskyadvocate.com/glossary/lincoln-county-process/ |access-date=December 24, 2017 |website=Whiskey Advocate}}</ref> The companies that produce whiskey in this manner suggest this step improves the flavor of the whiskey. The filtering process is named for Lincoln County, Tennessee, the home of the Jack Daniel's distillery when it originally began operations. However, in 1871, the boundaries of the county changed, placing the Jack Daniel's distillery and the surrounding area in the newly created Moore County. Ironically, the only whiskey currently produced within the current boundaries of Lincoln County is Prichard's, which is the only Tennessee whiskey that does ''not'' use the Lincoln County Process.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Waterbury |first=Margarett |date=August 27, 2016 |title=Tennessee Whiskey and the Lincoln County Process |url=https://thewhiskeywash.com/whiskey-styles/american-whiskey/tennessee-whiskey-lincoln-county-process/ |access-date=December 24, 2017 |website=The Whiskey Wash}}</ref>
==Legal status== On a federal level, the definition of Tennessee whiskey is legally established under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)<ref name=nafta313/> and at least one other international trade agreement<ref name="SICE">[http://www.sice.oas.org/Trade/chiusa_e/Text_e.asp SICE - Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Chile], Section E, Article 3.15 "Distinctive products".</ref> that requires it to be "a straight Bourbon whiskey authorized to be produced only in the State of Tennessee". Canadian food and drug laws state that Tennessee whiskey must be "a straight Bourbon whisky produced in the State of Tennessee".<ref name="Canada">{{Cite web |title=Canada Food and Drug regulations, C.R.C. C.870, provision B.02.022.1 |url=http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/C.R.C.,_c._870.pdf |access-date=August 15, 2017 |publisher=Government of Canada Justice Laws Website}}</ref>
On a state level, the State of Tennessee has imposed stringent requirements for Tennessee whiskey. It is not enough under state law that the whiskey be produced in Tennessee; it must also meet specific quality and production standards.<ref name="Esterl">{{Cite news |last=Esterl |first=Mike |date=March 18, 2014 |title=Jack Daniels Faces Whiskey Rebellion |publisher=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jack-daniels-faces-whiskey-rebellion-233400546.html |url-status=dead |access-date=March 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319022345/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/jack-daniels-faces-whiskey-rebellion-233400546.html |archive-date=March 19, 2014 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> On May 13, 2013, Tennessee governor Bill Haslam signed House Bill 1084, requiring the Lincoln County process (which involves maple charcoal filtering) to be used for products produced in the state labeled as "Tennessee Whiskey", along with the existing requirements for bourbon (e.g., mash consisting of at least 51% corn, aging in new charred oak barrels, and limits on alcohol by volume concentration for distillation, aging, and bottling). The law contains a specific exception for Benjamin Prichard's, which does not use the Lincoln County process.<ref name="HB1084">{{Cite web |last=Zandona |first=Eric |title=Tennessee Whiskey Gets a Legal Definition |url=https://www.ezdrinking.com/blog/2013/9/14/tennessee-whiskey-gets-a-legal-definition |access-date=January 11, 2014 |website=EZdrinking}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Public Chapter No. 341 |url=http://static.squarespace.com/static/5101b837e4b0202016c6b5c9/t/52363a84e4b0855d9f5aca50/1379285636684/Tennesee%20Whiskey%20Law.pdf |access-date=March 19, 2014 |publisher=State of Tennessee}}</ref> As federal law requires statements of origin on labels to be accurate, the Tennessee law effectively gives a firm definition to Tennessee whiskey.<ref name="Esterl" /><ref name=HB1084/>
Although Jack Daniel's supported the 2013 legislation – stating it was necessary to bring the quality of Tennessee whiskey to the level of bourbons and Scotches – some of the state's smaller distilleries opposed it, arguing the process required by the law was too close to the process used by Jack Daniel's. Phil Prichard, the owner and distiller of Benjamin Prichard's, said, "If I wanted my whiskey to taste like Jack Daniel's, I would make it like Jack Daniel's." Jeff Arnett, the Master Distiller at Jack Daniel's, noted that stringent requirements were required by Scotch makers in Scotland and champagne makers in France, and Tennessee whiskey should not be treated any differently.<ref name="Barrels">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Max |date=March 14, 2014 |title=Liquor Giants Battle Over Tennessee Whiskey, Barrels |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/03/14/tennessee-whiskey-barrels-liquor-giants-fight/6409747/ |access-date=October 29, 2014 |website=The Tennessean |publisher=USA Today}}</ref>
In 2014, legislation was introduced in the Tennessee state legislature to amend the 2013 law to allow the reuse of barrels in the aging process. Diageo, which owns George Dickel, supported the proposed change. Arnett blasted the proposed amendment, going as far as to accuse Diageo of attempting to weaken the quality of Tennessee whiskey to protect its Scotch and bourbon brands. Diageo argued that the 2013 law was an attempt by Jack Daniel's to push smaller competitors out of the market.<ref name=":0" />
Relatively few original brands of Tennessee whiskey exist today, due to statewide prohibition that lasted even longer than national prohibition.<ref name="BorderStates1999">{{Cite journal |last=Gaston |first=Kay Baker |year=1999 |title=Tennessee Distilleries: Their Rise, Fall, and Re-emergence |url=http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/htallant/border/bs12/gaston.htm |journal=Border States: Journal of the Kentucky-Tennessee American Studies Association |access-date=March 20, 2013}}</ref> As of 2013, many Tennessee counties still prohibit the sale of alcohol. In 2009, the Tennessee General Assembly amended the statute that had for many years limited the distillation of drinkable spirits to just three of Tennessee's 95 counties (Lincoln, Moore, and Coffee). The revised law allows distilleries to be established in 41 additional counties. This change is expected to lead to the establishment of more small distilleries, thus increasing the number of producers of Tennessee whiskey.<ref>John T. Edge, [http://www.gourmet.com/winespiritsbeer/2009/08/tennessee-whiskey That's the Whiskey Talking], Gourmet.com (Gourmet magazine website), August 13, 2009</ref>
==Brands== thumb|150px|Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 thumb|150px|George Dickel Old No. 8
===Current producers=== * Benjamin Prichard's from Kelso * Chattanooga Whiskey Company from Chattanooga<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chattanooga Whiskey Company |url=http://chattanoogawhiskey.com |access-date=November 15, 2018 |publisher=Chattanooga Whiskey Company}}</ref> * Collier and McKeel from Nashville<ref>{{Cite web |title=Collier and McKeel |url=http://www.collierandmckeel.com/home.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405110559/http://www.collierandmckeel.com/home.php |archive-date=April 5, 2013 |access-date=April 12, 2013 |publisher=Collier and McKeel |df=mdy-all}}</ref> * Farrar Distillery from Noah * George Dickel (a Diageo brand) from Tullahoma * Jack Daniel's (a Brown-Forman brand) from Lynchburg * Nelson's Green Brier Distillery from Nashville<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nelson's Green Brier Distillery |url=http://www.greenbrierdistillery.com/visit/ |access-date=February 27, 2015}}</ref> * Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, Shelbyville, Tennessee
==Whiskey made in Tennessee that is not "Tennessee whiskey"== All Tennessee whiskey is from Tennessee, but not all whiskey from Tennessee is "Tennessee whiskey". For example, the Ole Smoky Distillery (which began operation in 2010) is located in Tennessee and produces several whiskey products, but they are not sold as Tennessee whiskey because they do not meet all the criteria necessary for such. Instead, they are usually marketed under other terms, such as "Tennessee moonshine", “bourbon whiskey”, or simply “whiskey”.
Chattanooga Whiskey's Tennessee High Malt style of whiskey making generally meet all of the Bourbon requirements for Tennessee Whiskey, however its products do not undergo the Lincoln County filtration process.
George Dickel began production of a rye whiskey in 2012 that also cannot be labeled a Tennessee whiskey because it is produced from a rye-based mash and is not distilled in Tennessee. Most of the stages of its production are conducted under contract in Indiana, and the whiskey is then trucked to the Diageo bottling plant in Plainfield, Illinois, for filtering with charcoal made at the Dickel distillery and then bottling.<ref name="CowderyOct2012">Charles A. Cowdery, [http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2012/10/george-dickel-gives-different-taste-to.html George Dickel Gives a Different Taste to LDI Rye], ''The Chuck Cowdery Blog'', October 26, 2012.</ref> In early 2014, the brand introduced a white corn whiskey using an unaged version of its standard mashbill, which consists of more than 80% corn, allowing for its sale as "corn whiskey".<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 22, 2014 |title=George Dickel White Corn Whisky Foundation No. 1 Recipe |url=http://www.bevindustry.com/articles/87100-george-dickel-white-corn-whisky-foundation-no-1-recipe |access-date=March 8, 2014 |publisher=bevindustry.com}}</ref> The bottle makes no reference to Tennessee whiskey. Dickel would go on to release a Bourbon whiskey.
Production began in 2012 of a Jack Daniel's Tennessee Rye.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Jack Daniel's Unaged Rye Whiskey |work=uncrate |url=http://uncrate.com/stuff/jack-daniels-unaged-rye-whiskey/ |access-date=March 14, 2013 |archive-date=March 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130326143418/http://uncrate.com/stuff/jack-daniels-unaged-rye-whiskey/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> As it is 70% rye, it is not labeled as a Tennessee whiskey. A limited initial release that was not aged in wood was labeled "Spirits Distilled from Grain".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bryson |first=Lew |title=Buying Guide |url=http://www.whiskyadvocate.com/whisky_reviews.asp?Search=Y |url-status=dead |journal=Whisky Advocate |volume=22 |issue=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127215610/http://www.whiskyadvocate.com/whisky_reviews.asp?Search=Y |archive-date=January 27, 2013 |access-date=April 5, 2013}}</ref> A second limited release, called "Rested Rye", was released after two years of aging and labeled a straight rye whiskey.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Geoff Kleinman |date=April 7, 2014 |title=Review: Jack Daniels Rested Tennessee Rye Whiskey |url=http://www.drinkspirits.com/whiskey/review-jack-daniels-rested-tennessee-rye-whiskey/ |access-date=June 17, 2014 |publisher=drinkspirits.com}}</ref> A fully aged version was released in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 23, 2016 |title=Single Barrel Rye |url=https://www.jackdaniels.com/en-us/whiskey/single-barrel-rye}}</ref>
As of 2017, Benjamin Prichard's also produces a Tennessee Rye Whiskey, a malt whiskey, two whiskeys labeled as bourbon, and an unaged corn whiskey called Lincoln County Lightning.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Products |url=http://prichardsdistillery.com/products/#whiskey |access-date=September 3, 2017 |website=Prichard's Distillery |archive-date=September 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904012828/http://prichardsdistillery.com/products/#whiskey |url-status=dead }}</ref> Like Prichard's Tennessee whiskey, these are not charcoal filtered prior to aging.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
As of 2014, Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey was an unaged corn whiskey produced in Tennessee.<ref name="Esterl" /><!-- I suspect this product is no longer on the market. -->
==In popular culture== Tennessee whiskey is the namesake for the country music song "Tennessee Whiskey", written by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove and originally released by David Allan Coe as the title track of his 1981 studio LP. The song was later recorded and released as a hit single by George Jones in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=http://www.deandillon.com/bio/ |access-date=December 22, 2009 |publisher=Dean Dillon website}}</ref> More recently, the song was covered by Chris Stapleton in 2015 on his album ''Traveller''.
==See also== {{Portal|Liquor|United States}} * Distillation * Outline of whisky
==References== {{reflist}}
===Bibliography=== *{{Cite book |last1=Waymack |first1=Mark H. |url=https://openlibrary.org/books/OL784496M/The_book_of_classic_American_whiskeys |title=The Book of Classic American Whiskeys |last2=Harris |first2=James F. |date=1995 |publisher=Open Court |isbn=0812693051|ol=784496M }}
==Further reading== * John Overton, ''[http://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15138coll35 Federal Distillery Tax Book for Tennessee, 1796-1801]''
{{Whisky |state=expanded}} {{Alcoholic beverages}}
Category:Tennessee whiskey Whiskey