It is one of the most-asked questions in American whiskey and one of the few with a clear answer that nobody at the distillery will give you. Is Jack Daniel’s a bourbon? Under United States federal law, yes: it meets every requirement. By the company’s own choice, and by Tennessee state law since 2013, it is something else, called Tennessee whiskey, and the company has declined to use the word bourbon for over a century. Both statements are true at once. Here is how that works, and why it matters more than a quibble over labels.
What the law requires
The federal regulations that define American whiskey — 27 CFR Part 5 — set out what bourbon must be:
- Made in the United States.
- From a mash of at least 51 per cent corn.
- Distilled to no more than 160 proof.
- Entered into the barrel at no more than 125 proof.
- Aged in new, charred oak containers.
- Bottled at no less than 80 proof.
- With nothing added except water (for “straight” bourbon).
There is no requirement that bourbon be made in Kentucky. There is no requirement about filtration. There is no minimum age unless the word “straight” is used. The bourbon style page sets out the rules in full.
Jack Daniel’s is made in Tennessee from a mash of about 80 per cent corn, 8 per cent rye and 12 per cent malted barley. It is distilled below 160 proof, entered below 125, aged in new charred oak barrels made by its parent company’s cooperage, and bottled at 80 proof or above. It satisfies every clause. If Brown-Forman wished to print “Kentucky-style bourbon” on the label tomorrow, nothing in federal law would stop it, and the Tennessee-specific rules would not be breached either, because they add to the bourbon definition rather than replacing it.
What the distillery does differently
One step. After distillation and before barrelling, Jack Daniel’s is filtered through ten feet of sugar maple charcoal — the Lincoln County Process, or charcoal mellowing in the company’s language. The charcoal strips some of the heavier compounds from the new spirit, and the whiskey that goes into the barrel is smoother and slightly sweeter than it would otherwise be. The Tennessee whiskey page covers the process and its history.
Federal law says nothing about this. A bourbon may be charcoal-filtered before barrelling, after barrelling or not at all; the regulations are silent. So the maple does not make Jack Daniel’s not a bourbon. It makes it a bourbon with an extra step — or, in the company’s view, a different thing altogether.
The 1941 letter
The distillery formalised its position in 1941. Reagor Motlow, of the family that owned Jack Daniel’s, wrote to the federal Alcohol Tax Unit asking that the product be recognised as distinct from bourbon on the grounds of the charcoal process. The agency’s reply, in effect, agreed that the whiskey need not be labelled bourbon and could be described as Tennessee whiskey. The letter is the foundation of the company’s claim and is reproduced in its visitor centre.
What the letter did not do is define Tennessee whiskey or prevent Jack Daniel’s from being called bourbon. It simply gave the company permission to call its product something else. That permission has been treated ever since as a declaration of separate identity.
The 2013 law and the trade agreements
Two later developments gave the distinction legal weight. Trade agreements from the 1990s onward — beginning with NAFTA in 1994 and continuing in its successors and in bilateral deals with the EU and others — recognised “Tennessee whiskey” alongside “bourbon” as a distinctive product of the United States, meaning that other countries may not use either name for their own spirits. That put the two terms on equal footing internationally.
In 2013 the Tennessee legislature passed a law defining Tennessee whiskey for the first time: it must meet all the federal bourbon requirements, be made in Tennessee, and be filtered through maple charcoal before ageing. The law was drafted with Brown-Forman’s input and, in effect, wrote Jack Daniel’s process into the state’s definition. The Tennessee region page covers the fight over the law, in which Diageo, owner of George Dickel, argued it was anti-competitive. The George Dickel page covers the other historic distillery that uses the process.
So since 2013 the position is: Tennessee whiskey is a bourbon that has been charcoal-filtered in Tennessee. Every Tennessee whiskey is, by definition, legally a bourbon. Not every bourbon is a Tennessee whiskey.
Why the distillery insists
Several reasons, none of them legal.
Differentiation. In a category dominated by Kentucky, a category of one is a marketing asset. “Tennessee whiskey” on the label tells a story that “bourbon” would not, and the story has sold a great many bottles.
Tradition. The company has never used the word and sees no reason to start. Jack Daniel’s was being sold as Tennessee whiskey before bourbon was legally defined in 1964.
Belief. The people who make it think the charcoal changes the product enough to warrant a different name. They may be right; side by side, Jack Daniel’s is softer and simpler than a Kentucky bourbon of similar mash and age, and the maple is the main reason.
Corporate structure. Brown-Forman also owns Old Forester and Woodford Reserve, both bourbons. Keeping Jack Daniel’s in its own category avoids the three brands competing for the same shelf label.
What the rest of Tennessee does
The question has become more interesting since Jack Daniel’s and George Dickel stopped being the only distilleries in the state. Tennessee now has dozens, and the 2013 law means that any of them wishing to call its product Tennessee whiskey must use the charcoal process. Most do. Some — Nelson’s Green Brier, Uncle Nearest, Chattanooga Whiskey — have adopted it with enthusiasm and sell the heritage alongside the whiskey. Others have chosen to make bourbon instead and say so on the label, either because they prefer the unfiltered character or because they resent being obliged to follow the market leader’s recipe. Prichard’s, the one distillery granted an exemption in 2013, continues to make Tennessee whiskey without the maple. The result is that a bottle from Tennessee may now say “bourbon”, “Tennessee whiskey” or “Tennessee bourbon”, and all three can be accurate descriptions of the same style of spirit, differing only in whether the charcoal was involved.
Why bourbon drinkers push back
The counter-argument is that the distinction is marketing, that charcoal filtration is a process choice rather than a category, and that calling the result something other than bourbon implies a difference in kind that does not exist. Some bourbon purists add that the charcoal strips character and that Tennessee whiskey is bourbon with the interesting bits removed. The distillery’s response, roughly, is that they are welcome to drink Kentucky’s product.
Both sides are partly right. Legally, Jack Daniel’s is bourbon. Culturally and by Tennessee statute, it is Tennessee whiskey. The two are not in conflict; they are two labels for the same bottle, and which one you use says more about where you stand than about what is in the glass.
The practical answer
If someone asks whether Jack Daniel’s is a bourbon, the accurate reply is: it qualifies as one, it chooses not to be called one, and the law allows both. Our label guide explains what the words on the bottle guarantee. The Jack Daniel’s page covers the distillery and its range, and our reviews treat the whiskey on the same terms as everything from Kentucky, because, whatever the label says, that is the company it keeps.
