Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye

Mike Rosen

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Rye

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August 23, 2024

In May 2023, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye went from being a special limited release to a permanent part of their whiskey lineup. As with all Jack Daniel’s whiskey, the rye distillate is “charcoal mellowed” before being filled into handmade, new American oak barrels, built in their own cooperage, and aged at the highest level of their rickhouses. The barrels for this release are specially selected, ranging in proof between 125 and 145. Let’s get started!

Taken: Two different methods, resting for 15 minutes. 1. Neat in a Glencairn glass. 2. With 5 drops per 1 oz. = 0.25ml or 10 drops per 2 oz. = 0.5ml.

Distillery: Jack Daniel’s Distillery.

Proof: 131.6.

Age: NAS (at least 4 years).

Barrel #: 23-04778, Bottled 5-17-23, Barrel house 2-03.

Mash Bill: 70% Rye/18% Corn/12% Malted Barley.

Price: $68.99.

Appearance: Dark reddish caramel.

Nose

There’s a lot of dark and sweet oak, starting with maple syrup and burnt brown sugar, toffee, molasses, and vanilla bean. Followed by herbaceous flavors of sage, black tea, and nutmeg, with a layer of Fig Newtons and banana bread with orange peel, allspice, and oak char. The balance is excellent with very little heat, which is impressive given its proof point.

With water added: The oak flavors become much sweeter with caramelized dark brown sugar, maple, toffee, butterscotch, and vanilla. The herbaceous flavors are more upfront, bringing extra sage and cloves with added fennel and peppermint. There’s still some banana but with much more apricot, red berries, and lemon brightness. The spice becomes more like cinnamon and more robust with toasted oak.

Palate

The nose moves right onto the palate with burnt brown sugar, dark molasses, toffee, pipe tobacco, sage, cloves, black tea, banana bread, and some wood smoke. Cayenne pepper spice washes over the palate with a viscous mouthfeel, bringing more rich oak to the sip. This drinks dangerously easy, punching way under its proof.

With water added: The mouthfeel is still creamy and viscous, resembling the sweeter nose with caramelized dark brown sugar, toffee, molasses, and vanilla bean, with green tea, sage, cloves, and peppermint with apricots and banana rind. A moderate amount of cinnamon spice enters mid-sip with rich oak that drinks even easier.

Finish

Cayenne spice sticks to the upper palate with burnt brown sugar and maple, toffee, sage, banana rind, and oaky wood smoke. Eventually, heavy oak tannins of dark pipe tobacco develop, lingering for what seems like forever to close out this super-long finish.

With water added: Cinnamon spice continues with caramelized dark brown sugar, apricots, sage, and eucalyptus. The finish is still very long with a lighter pipe tobacco. More cinnamon spice lingers until the end of this long finish, with subtle apricots and lots of sage returning with banana bread.

Conclusion

This is an excellent rye that exceeded my expectations. The rich barrel character and rye flavors alone are worth the price of admission. What’s also impressive is the balance of flavors and how well it drinks under its proof. The reason for adding water is something that I like to try with whiskey around this proof range and with this much barrel character. The results can vary, but, in this case, they were significant, unlocking more flavors than I expected without compromising the characteristics of the profile. Instead, offering different qualities that I loved just as much. The caramel flavors became much sweeter, with more upfront herbaceous and fruit flavors while keeping an excellent mouthfeel and a long, enjoyable, and complex finish. It’s like having two different great-tasting whiskeys in one bottle. Jack Daniel’s has knocked it out of the park with their SBBP releases, and I hope they continue to make an appearance on the shelves of my local store.

Rating: 8.4/10.