Imagine travelling for 15 hours to spend 48 hours in Tennessee...Jack Daniel's invited me over to exeperience the brand in the way it was intended
A tour of the one and only Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg, followed by a tasting class
Have
you heard the story about how the late Mr Jack Daniel never revealed
what the iconic no.7 - found on the front of the top selling American
whiskey in the world - actually represents? Or how it's always been
tradition of the company to gift each employee a bottle Jack along with
their monthly pay check? Even more intriguing, the strange and
unfortunately circumstances of how the man himself passed away from a
freak incident involving a safe?
I
was oblivious to all of the above until I had the pleasure of being
invited by the
Jack Daniel's brand to spend a couple of days in
Tennessee, with the aim to
discover what makes this globally recognised
brand tick, and how they have built up a grass-roots empire from a
sleepy town in the middle of nowhere.
The water used in the distilling process comes from within the distillery grounds
I’d
hold my hands up and be the first one to say that Jack Daniel’s isn’t a
brand I’d generally reach for on the shelves. I've always seem myself
as quite open minded when it comes down to it, but I am guilty of
overlooking certain things if I don't have some form of connection with
them. My obsession with pop culture extends to having an deep
appreciation for how brands can become ingrained within daily life -
through clever marketing, memorable branding design, familiarity, hard
work, and deep down a (usually) honest, homegrown product.
Similar to how iconic brands such as McDonald's Coca-Cola, Disney, Apple
+ Nintendo are all instantly recognisable by the design of their logo,
Jack Daniel's is just as synonymous worldwide with whiskey and music.
My
whirlwind of weekend - which involved a 15 hour journey from Blackpool
to Nashville, one way! - was something I'll never forget. The journey
into the depths of Tennessee felt like it was never going to end, but
our opened-armed welcome into the sleepy town of Lynchburg, where every
single drop of Jack Daniel's whiskey has ever been made, quickly
eliminated any tiredness. The air smelt industry-sweet and smiling faces
graced every front porch.
A
tour of the working distillery was done by our guide, Sam, with an
enthusiasm and energy that only our American brothers can seem to
achieve - showing us the inner-workings of the process but also
emphasising on the finer points of the brand's heritage and
infrastructure. For me, these were the moments where the brand started to come
alive.
