Distillery: Brown-Forman Distillery
Proof: 94
Age: NAS
Mashbill: 80% corn, 12% malted barley, & 8% rye
BACKGROUND: Jack Daniels Eric Church Single Barrel Select was the second collaborative release between the JD Distillery & Eric Church, following the 2019 Double Down Barrel. Jack Daniels has always had a motto that music and friends are always important, which we could not agree with more. The flavor profile was hand selected by master distiller, Jeff Arnett, based on Eric’s favorite whiskeys. Before being barrelled, the whiskey was dripped through 10 feet of tightly packed charcoal made from maple sugar, giving it a sweet profile.
NOSE: Just like other JD expressions, the nose on this opened up with a sweet banana flavor mixed with an oaky ethanol spice. As the spice settles in notes of sweet vanilla and butterscotch start to open, leaving you with a banana bread like, sweet maple smell. (22/25)
PALATE: The palate follows right up with the nose in the best way possible. Notes of maple brown sugar immediately coat your mouth leaving a spice tingle on your tongue and around the walls of your mouth. On the second sip a delightful butterscotch flavor takes over with meshed with the flavor of banana like in the nose, but this time with a hot, oaky, undertone. (32/40)
FINISH: A little shorter than I hoped, but nevertheless absolutely delightful. As the butterscotch and banana fade, a dark chocolate sensation warms your mouth and chest mixed with the desert notes that were oh so prevalent in the nose. (21/25)
VALUE: For $55 this is a must buy if you are a fan of JD. This has been my favorite expression put out by JD to date. (8/10)
Overall: 82/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: If you are a fan of tennessee whiskey, do not miss the chance to get your hands on this bottle. It is full of all of the traditional JD notes that we all know and love, but this time, bringing a much more full, sweet palate loaded with delicious dessert notes.
Slightly Better Whiskey: Elmer T Lee
Equal Whiskey: Four Roses Single Barrel
Slightly Worse Whiskey: Blantons Single Barrel
Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Near perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
Below 50: Give away
