TGR Staff - 09/20/2021
Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel was the man behind Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey. The story of how he created his first batch of moonshine is shrouded in myth and legend, but what we do know is that by 1866 Jack had built a whiskey distillery on Lynchburg's main street. He named it after himself so people would remember him as the legendary figure who put Tennessee Whiskey on the map.
Jack left home in 1864 and had was taken in by Reverend Dan Call, on top of being a pastor, Dan, and his slave Nathan "Nearest" Green were known for making whiskey. It was here at the Call family farm that he learned the art of distilling. A few years later Jack would hire Nearest to be the Head Distiller at Jack Daniel's. Jack even opened two bars in Lynchburg's town square, the White Rabbit and Red Dog saloons.
As a successful businessman, Jack had a taste for the finer things in life and was known to be a dapper dresser, he also carried a Patek Philippe pocket watch. In 2000, his 1892 Patek Philippe pocket was sold at auction to the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, Switzerland where it is on display.
In 1904, Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 takes the gold medal at the World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Jack wouldn't see many of the awards, in 1906 after being unable to open his safe, Jack kicks it out of frustration. The kick broke his toe and the resulting injury and infection was something he would never fully recover from. Some claim that this is just a tall tale, but it is the official story according to the distillery. Since Jack had never married or had children, he would pass control of the company over to his nephews in 1907. Jack would pass away in 1911 at the age of 62. Jack's nephew Lem Motlow bought out his brother and would go on to run the company for the next 40 years.
Just a few years after inheriting the distillery, Motlow would face the unexpected, a state law in Tennesee baring the production and sale of alcoholic beverages. They happened to be in one of the first states to enact prohibition. The ban on drinking would go nationwide in 1920. When Federal prohibition ended in 1933, Tennessee kept it in place statewide, it would take Lem Motlow running for the state senate to push through legislation to lift the statewide ban in 1937. This allowed Motlow to reopen his family's distillery and resume production of Jack Daniel's No. 7. But just two short years later a new law would pass, called "local option" allowing each county to decide whether or not to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages. Moore County, home of Jack Daniel's decided to become a dry county, leaving America's oldest registered distillery in a dry county.
The history of Jack Daniel's and Tennessee whiskey is long, but it’s one that deserves to be told. We hope you found this article interesting; if so, please share it with your friends! To learn more about the world of bourbon and American whiskeys in general, make sure to check out some other articles under "Drinks."
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