No visit to Tennessee is complete unless you stop in Lynchburg and take a tour of the Jack Daniel Distillery – even if you don’t drink whiskey!
This free, hour long tour gives you an up close and personal look into the history of this dry county’s thriving distillery. (What is a dry county? It’s a county where the sales of alcoholic beverages are forbidden. Rather an oxymoron isn’t it…a dry county producing spirits it can’t sell.)
Here’s a sample of what you’ll learn on the tour:
- Moore County, home to the Jack Daniel Distillery, has been
dry since Prohibition. With a population of approximately 5,000, the county is the smallest in Tennessee and doesn’t have enough people living in it to hold a vote to reverse this. (In Tennessee, a county must have a population of at least 7,500 people in order to pass/change laws.) The Jack Daniel’s company petitioned the state for a special permit to allow the sale of Jack Daniel’s Whiskey souvenir bottles to be sold in the Visitor Center gift shop.
- Distillery attendance is perfect on the first Friday of the month as all employees get a bonus: a 750 mL bottle of Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7.
- Each Jack Daniel whiskey barrel is used only once then sold. These used barrels sell for close to $300. (Want to see a unique way a barrel was used – check out this video.)
There’s more I could tell you, but that would spoil your visit. Check out our Pinterest board to see more of our pictures from the tour. Please keep in mind cameras aren’t allowed in all areas of the distillery, so for the full experience, you’ll need to visit yourself.
Are you a fan of Jack Daniel’s Whiskey? (If you’re interested in trying it, but not sure what to mix it with, try these recipes from the Jack Daniel’s website.) If not, what’s your favorite mixed drink?
Interesting read. And I have to say interesting bonus given to employees as well.
It is quite the interesting bonus! The non drinkers have a lot of “best friends” on bonus day.
Oh good!1 more alcohol! I think Jerry wrote about beer!! hahaha! you guys are great! great job!! p
Definitely a way to lift spirits for the new year! 🙂
Have friends in TN and this is on my Bucket List for sure. Thanks for the info!
I know you’ll enjoy it. Definitely a unique experience.
Didn’t even know dry counties existed! I bet employees love working there 🙂
I’m surprised some still exist. From what I understand, there are a few of them lift in the “Bible Belt.”
Oh how fun! I don’t ‘drink it anymore much, but I used it, but DANG is it great in cooking! Ever had Jack Daniel’s sauce before? SOOO good!
Haven’t had the sauce before, but I’ve heard it’s good. There’s a Jack Daniel cookbook put out by Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House with all types of precipices for using Jack!
What a great back story on this company. Never knew that! Good stuff, and thanks for sharing.
It was amazing to see the whole process and to find out there have been only seven Master Distillers throughout the history of the company.
I think this will have to be added to the list of many places my husband and I will seek out when we do our RV trip next year…thanks for sharing!
You’ll enjoy it, even if you’re not a whiskey drinker.
This seems a really neat place to visit!
It is, and the best part, it’s free. They also offer a $10 Tasting Tour, where at the end, you can sample some of their whiskey.
How interesting! It’s especially intriguing that a repeal of prohibition can’t be put into place. Thanks for including the recipes!
Hope you enjoy!
Jack Daniel Distilley… hmmm… That must have been a great trip! =)
It was quite the trip, though we didn’t do the Tasting Tour. I’ll have to go back to do that one.
Interesting post! Quite a good place to visit as well. What did you like most about your visit there?
Loved the fact the tour was free and open to all ages. This allows families to enjoy it as well. (Not drinking…the tour.) 😉
Wow, that was interesting Maria. I haven’t been able to hit that… or the Tail of the Dragon and I lived in VA (14 hours away, not that close, but still). Funny story, I picked my Nascar Driver by this sponsor 07, Clint Boyer and the poor chap got signed by Cheerios. How do you go from JD to Cheerios? lol Great post, thanks for sharing!
Funny how things like that happen! Maybe it’s a new way to eat cereal…JD instead of milk?!? Hopefully you’ll get to stop and see it the next time you go through Tennessee.