Jack Daniel’s makes a lot of whiskey at its distillery. It’s the best-selling whiskey shingle in the world, a real boon for the Tennessee whiskey scene. But mainstream whiskey isn’t always good whiskey. Thinking of Jack’s Old No. 7 as more than a mixer is sure to lead to a nasty hangover. On the flip side, the brand has multiple expressions that do deserve to be sipped.
One of Jack’s offerings that I’ve started to really enjoy of late is their Jack Daniel’s Bottled-in-Bond Traveler’s Exclusive. I’m a pretty big fan of Jack Daniel’s bonded single barrel, so it certainly makes sense that I’d dig this. When I first saw it on the shelf, I was immediately intrigued. The box stood out with a nice gold and black graphic design and the bottle itself was a full liter — providing some extra bang for my buck.
As a pretty big bottled-in-bond lover, I knew I had to test this and report back. My full review is below, but let’s just say: this is an interesting dram of whiskey. One that’s steadily sneaking up my rankings as an easy, day-to-day sipper.
If you want to try it yourself, it’s going to be a little bit of a hunt. We did find a bottle available in the U.S. but it’s a little pricey. Before this year, the expression was duty-free only. Now, bottles are starting to hit non-travel markets, due to duty-free shops taking a hit over the last year and a half. If you’re traveling and have access to a duty-free shop, you should be able to find it much closer to its MSRP there than at a store or online.
Okay, let’s dive in!
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $99 ($38 MSRP)
The Whiskey:
This is classic Jack Daniel’s mash of 80 percent corn, 12 percent barley, and a scant eight percent rye. The barrels are housed in a bonded warehouse where they rest a minimum of four years before they’re vatted and proofed down to 100 proof.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a distinct aroma of a Hostess Cherry Pie on the nose with a hint of wet oak, light eggnog spice, vanilla, soft leather, and orange candy. The taste is very fruity with a mix of banana pancakes with apple-cider-infused maple syrup next to drier oak and toffee candy plus a touch of almond crunch. That soft toffee drives the end and leads a long-ish finish toward a final note of dry reeds and the buttery end of that Hostess Cherry Pie.
The Bottle:
The large bottle (one-liter), matte box, gold lettering over black, and classic style make this a great bar cart addition. It’s instantly identifiable as a Jack bottle but is clearly something special, too.
Bottom Line:
I like this a lot. It’s become a go-to sipper on the weekends. It’s fruity and very “Jack Daniel’s” in a good way. It’s a little bolder than the average Jack but doesn’t quite reach the heights of their single barrel program. Still, that Hostess Cherry Pie note goes a long way toward making me reach for this bottle more often than I reach for others. It’s a treat.
[Just imagine a Triple-Cherry Jack And Coke with an Amarana cherry, Dang! Cherry Cola, and a shot of this stuff! — editor]
Rating:
89/100 — This is really nice and a very easy drinking whiskey all around. It’s not anything mind-blowing but it’s also not trying to be.
