“The nectar of the Gods”. Frank Sinatra's endorsement of Jack Daniels whiskey in the 1950s gave American whiskey (spelt with an extra ‘e' just like their Irish counterparts) a shot in the arm like never before. He was buried with a flask of JD when he passed away in 1998 in accordance with his last wishes.
The American whiskey journey began over two centuries before the demise of Frank Sinatra. The first ever tax imposed by George Washington's government in the free USA was a whiskey tax and it led to the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791 when corn farmers went up in arms. American whiskey can trace its origins to Moonshine.
Moonshine might have a negative connotation, especially given the Prohibition years (1919 – 1930) when bootleggers thrived and backyards were production centres. Immigrants brought their recipes from Europe and moonshine – that primarily used mashed corn, was a popular spirit in the 19th century. Chris Fletcher, the Assistant master distiller at Jack Daniels told me about how Jack Daniels learned to make whiskey from Dan Call, a local lay preacher and moonshine distiller in Tennessee.
I spent a whole morning at the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg and one of the things I discussed with Chris was the differences between a Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey. The Quick Guide To American Whiskey There's still some disagreement on whether it was Kentucky's Bourbon District or New Orleans' famous Bourbon Street that inspired the name. But it's the French Bourb.
