Review: Jack Daniel’s Just Released a 14-Year-Old Expression

What we’re drinking: Jack Daniel’s 14-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey

Where it’s from: Based in Lynchburg, TN, the Jack Daniel’s Distillery is the first registered distillery in the United States. The whiskey brand is popular for its “Lincoln County Process,” a multi-day filtration method in which newly-distilled whiskey trickles through 10 feet of densely-packed sugar maple charcoal.

Why we’re drinking this: Over the past few years, the Tennessee whiskey distillery has branched out from its emphasis on Old No. 7 and produced several innovative releases, including a Bonded line, an American single malt and a few hazmat whiskeys. But along with the innovations comes some big nods to the past, including the return of the age statement. Jack Daniel’s released its first age-statement whiskey in more than a century back in 2021. That 10-year expression, now on its fourth batch release (see below), was followed by a 12-year and, now, a 14-year-old Tennessee whiskey, which was last produced by the distillery in the early- to mid-1900s.

“It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done,” says Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Chris Fletcher. “We’re doing a whiskey that hasn’t been done since Jack Daniel did it himself.”

For this aged release, the distillery moved barrels around during the maturation process, a rarity at Jack Daniel’s. “We moved them from the top floors after about eight years to the very bottom floor of a [rickhouse],” Fletcher says. “We did that for two reasons. Number one, evaporation. Whiskeys on the top floor, once they get close to that 10-year mark, you’re going to lose a lot of whiskey. And we also did it to slow down the extraction of oak into the whiskey itself. If you’re comparing it to cooking, think of that top floor kind of like you’re searing. And that bottom floor is just simmering.”

One thing Fletcher didn’t do is compare the new bottle with the original 14-year-old release. “That whiskey would have been sitting in a bottle for 120 years,” he says. “It would have changed significantly. So we didn’t have any historical samples.”

Review: Jack Daniel’s 10-Year Is Its First Age-Statement Whiskey Since Prohibition

The iconic distillery hasn’t put out a release like this in over a century, but there are new ideas at work

Good news: If you like the age statements and have some patience, Fletcher says they will “hopefully” get 18- and 21-year expressions (the oldest they currently have in the warehouses tops out at 15 years). But let’s dig into the most recent release.

How it tastes: Jack Daniel’s 14-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey features a barrel-strength ABV of 63.15% and the same mash bill as the classic Old No. 7 — 80% corn, 12% malted barley and 8% rye (it’s also charcoal mellowed). No surprise that it’s all about dark here, in appearance and taste. Dark chocolate, dark molasses, tobacco, leather and brown sugar dominate, with hints of cherry cola, cinnamon candies and butterscotch. Definitely add a drop or two of water, as it’ll bring out more chocolate and calm it down a bit.

Fun fact: Along with the new 14-year-old release come two updated releases — Batch 3 of Jack Daniel’s 12-Year-Old release (53.5% ABV) and Batch 4 of the 10-Year-Old expression (48.5% ABV). The former has a lot of butterscotch and chocolate while losing some of JD’s fruiter notes, while the latter offers a lot of cherry, toasted oak, cloves and a bit of the signature banana note.

Where to buy: Jack Daniel’s 14-, 12- and 10-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskeys will be available this month in limited quantities across the United States in 700ml bottles with suggested retail prices of $149.99, $94.99 and $84.99, respectively.