Last Saturday, Derrick and I hopped in the car and traveled to Lynchburg, Tennessee to visit the Jack Daniels Distillery! It was such a blast and to top it off: FREE! Only an hours drive from the Boro, it sits in Monroe County off of some lovely green pastures and quaint towns surrounding it.
We couldn't take pictures actually inside where the whiskey was being made but we were able to take some of the surroundings and of the details.
The Jack Daniels Visitors Center
The aging of whiskey-from clear 140 proof grained alcohol to the amber colored-upper level (where the Jack single barrel is made) whiskey.
The funeral announcement for Mr. Daniels.
The Rack Yards-where the wood is soaked in whiskey and then burned for coal to make more whiskey-very neat.
A small coal barrel.
That building on the hill holds the whiskey barrels-each floor contains barrels aged differently to produce different tastes of the JD brand.
The cave spring-I bet that's some of the cleanest water around! This is the same spring Jack Daniels found and used in the late 1800s-still flowing and still making whiskey!
Mr and Ol' Mr. Jack Daniels-he was only 5' 2"!
The real safe located in Jack's old office that he kicked when he couldn't open it-ultimately leading to a limp and his death due to a gangrene infection!
In here we saw the whiskey being distilled drop-by-drop through the coal, we saw the yeast boiling, and we got a smell of that pure grain alcohol through these HUGE vats-talk about knock you on your feet! It was so strong you could almost taste it!
The Barrel House-this was so COOL! The smell of whiskey hits you like a home run ball but seeing the thousands of barrels housed in the"smallest" barrel house really showed us how huge Jack Daniels Whiskey really is-it's made in Tennessee and distributed all over the globe!
Me and Derrick-after the tour-walking the bridge to the Lynchburg Square.
On our way to the city.
The tiny square-it's such a small and cute town, being housed in Tennessee's smallest county!
Der and Jack-Derrick's almost a foot taller than him!
We had such a great time. We had BBQ for lunch in the square before trekking back to the Boro. It was a great day trip with gorgeous weather, interesting history, and a free tour. A great day date, if I do say so myself.
I'd suggest this to anyone who wants to learn something about backwoods Tennessee and whiskey history!
I've always wanted to go. Sigh. A song I've recently been a little too obsessed with:
ReplyDelete"I fell in love with Jack Daniels again.
He's the best kind of lover that there is.
I can have him when I please,
He always satisfies my needs,
He takes me back no matter where I've been,
Yeah, I fell in love with Jack Daniels again."
Maybe when you're down here next you and I can go tour the winery? I think those tours are free too and THEY include tastings!
ReplyDelete