Unusual question regarding vintage Jack Daniels.

[Roger]

Try something to fit your tastes. There's plenty of fine stuff and terrible stuff. What I find totally overrated and overpriced is Macallan. Why pay $45 for something that I use to strip chrome off of bumpers?:rage: Terrible liquor.

 

[jamespowers]

Try something to fit your tastes. There's plenty of fine stuff and terrible stuff. What I find totally overrated and overpriced is Macallan. Why pay $45 for something that I use to strip chrome off of bumpers?:rage: Terrible liquor.

 

[MissHuff]

All this liquor talk makes me wish I were back in Montreal with a bottle of Hennessey to keep me warm...

11 more months

 

[Mojave Jack]

During the prohibition days, folks supposedly made liquor runs across frozen stretches of the Great Lakes. For all you scuba divers out there, I was informed of a wreck that lies in about 50ft of water. It's a truck that was full of aged scotch when it went through the ice. Now that aged scotch is even more aged and perfectly preserved in the chilled depths. For those who know where the dive site is located, there are some fine drinks to be had!

Aged Jack Daniels? Bottoms up!
:cheers1:

When they dredge the Detroit River they regularly bring up bottles of whiskey on other spirits from Canada. I remember reading in the Free Press one year that they brought up a concrete block--with footprints and the sole of a shoe in it!

My friend's family had a property near Port Huron, but it was pretty remote. My friend was walking through their woods and found a huge pit filled with thousands of whiskey bottles, all empty. He learned through some local folks that the pit was where the smugglers poured the whiskey into other containers to take into Detroit to the speakeasys.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Thanks for all the tips, folks. I love a good whiskey, usually have Jack Daniels and sometimes Johnny Walker Black. I've tried Glenfiddich, too, or maybe it was Glenlivit. Heck, I even like Early Times, which is easy on the wallet.

Now, I have discovered a single barrel rye whiskey -- from an old Iowa bootlegger's recipe. It is called Templeton Rye from Templeton, Iowa, a small town that went "outlaw" during prohibition and made rye whiskey, which was so good that it became Al Capone's whiskey of choice.

There was an article recently in the Des Moines register showing how the bootleggers hid their Iowa whiskey from the government: in hollowed-up grave monuments in small-town graveyards. The front slab came off and the monument was hollow (no wonder they made those big monuments back then!)

They stopped making it once alcohol was legal again, but recently revived the operation. I bought some in a liguor store here and really like it. Plus, of course, I am intrigued by its history, which is part of the marketing -- everyone wants to try a whiskey from an old bootlegging operation.

Maybe Iowa is not so nerdy after all. Now, if I could just wear my fedoras without all the stares.

karol

 

[Lincsong]

How easy is it to get booze in Iowa? Wasn't it one of the last dry states?

 

[K.D. Lightner]

When I was a child, growing up in Iowa, it was a pretty dry state -- you could buy beer in bars (or "beer joints" as my folks called them) but not liquor or wine. And the beer was 3.2 alcohol content, pretty poor. People who wanted stronger beer went to Missouri and bought it. There were establishments that would set you up with a hard drink, but you had to supply the liquor -- and you were charged for it.

You were allowed so many bottles of wine or hard liquor per year, so had to go to a state liquor store (the only ones allowed) and sign forms to get bottles of booze, I used to go with my father when I was a kid. I believe you could only get so many bottles each time you went, and you were limited to so many bottles/year. but don't recall how many.

Ironically, it was a recovering alcoholic, Governor Harold Hughes, who got rid of the draconian alcohol laws. I was 22 years old (1964) when we could finally get liquor by the drink in Iowa in bars and restaurants. My friends and I would go to these places and try everything in the universe from dacqueries to zombies.

You still could not buy booze in grocery stores, had to go to liquor stores to buy the stuff. This was still true when I left Iowa to live in New York City.

Now, Iowa is discovering its glorious pre-prohibition past. There are now a number of wineries, plus Templeton, and for all I know, other establishments rising out of the ashes of prohibition. I did not know this, but Iowa was a leading producer of wine before prohibition, but the wineries all died out.

Iowa was not the last dry state, but I think we were close. I believe Kansas was still dry in the late 60's.

karol

 

[Harp]

During the prohibition days, folks supposedly made liquor runs across frozen stretches of the Great Lakes. For all you scuba divers out there, I was informed of a wreck that lies in about 50ft of water. It's a truck that was full of aged scotch when it went through the ice. Now that aged scotch is even more aged and perfectly preserved in the chilled depths. For those who know where the dive site is located, there are some fine drinks to be had!

Aged Jack Daniels? Bottoms up!
:cheers1:

Where abouts did that truck sink?

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I just found this interesting web site. I tried it answering both yes and no to enter the site.

http://www.templetonrye.com

karol

 

[Absinthe_1900]

A very nice rye that is like a pre-prohibition rye, is the six year old Sazerac Rye from Buffalo Trace / Sazerac, very nice tasting, and makes for a great Sazerac cocktail.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Absinthe -- Thanks for the tip. I will look for it and try it now that I know I like rye whiskey.

karol

 

[scotrace]

And thanks for that Templton Rye link KDL! I wonder why only in one state?

 

[Michaelson]

I stopped by Jack Daniels last week and asked the master distiller your question. I KNOW what they tell us on the tours, but I asked him point blank. The answer is, if the whiskey has not been tainted by any foreign liquid entering the already opened bottle, it should be perfectly fine to drink. And no, neither whiskey, bourbon, or scotch will continue to age outside of it's wooden cask. That's what ages the whiskey...the moving in and out of the charred wood to the soak line. Once it's bottled, it's done. So, to the fellow with the scotch squirrelled down in his basement....it's going to taste exactly the same 20 years from now as it does today...that is, if it's been bottled. If it's still in it's original barrel, and you want it to continue to age, you best do some studying up on how to exercise the whiskey....as for a certain period of time it has to be in a warmer area to go in and out of the wood more often....but after a few years, moved to a cooler area to slow down that movement. It's not just a matter of putting the barrel up in a dark location and leaving it. It's all rotated to a specificed schedule.

Anyway, that's the scoop directly from the Jack Daniels master distiller to your question.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Scotrace -- They just started up their business this past year, got a lot of publicity in the papers and on TV here in Iowa.

I imagine TR will have a wider distribution in the future -- they do ask for email from potential distributors and private buyers on the website.

karol

 

[jamespowers]

I stopped by Jack Daniels last week and asked the master distiller your question. I KNOW what they tell us on the tours, but I asked him point blank. The answer is, if the whiskey has not been tainted by any foreign liquid entering the already opened bottle, it should be perfectly fine to drink. And no, neither whiskey, bourbon, or scotch will continue to age outside of it's wooden cask. That's what ages the whiskey...the moving in and out of the charred wood to the soak line. Once it's bottled, it's done. So, to the fellow with the scotch squirrelled down in his basement....it's going to taste exactly the same 20 years from now as it does today...that is, if it's been bottled. If it's still in it's original barrel, and you want it to continue to age, you best do some studying up on how to exercise the whiskey....as for a certain period of time it has to be in a warmer area to go in and out of the wood more often....but after a few years, moved to a cooler area to slow down that movement. It's not just a matter of putting the barrel up in a dark location and leaving it. It's all rotated to a specificed schedule.

Anyway, that's the scoop directly from the Jack Daniels master distiller to your question.

Regards! Michaelson

The master distiller knows what he is talking about. Too bad he is working for Jack Daniels.

Regards,

J

 

[Phil]

During the prohibition days, folks supposedly made liquor runs across frozen stretches of the Great Lakes. For all you scuba divers out there, I was informed of a wreck that lies in about 50ft of water. It's a truck that was full of aged scotch when it went through the ice. Now that aged scotch is even more aged and perfectly preserved in the chilled depths. For those who know where the dive site is located, there are some fine drinks to be had!

Aged Jack Daniels? Bottoms up!
:cheers1:

Actually, I've been to the truck. I went diving with some relatives and they were talking about that truck. My uncle actually knew the location, or rather, he had it plotted on his GPS. Anyways, my uncle and I dove down to the truck. I'll save you all the time and money of diving lessons and renting a boat. It was cleaned out of booze. All that was left were some rotting, wood cases, opened bottles, and some broken ones. The truck itself looked pretty cool though. Even if there were any left, from what I've read here, the alcohol wouldn't have aged or since corking was the easier method at the time, some of the cork probably rotted away by now and you can get a nice bottle of lake water. Goes down just as hard, mor likely to get you sick, and a lot less fun.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

A very nice rye that is like a pre-prohibition rye, is the six year old Sazerac Rye from Buffalo Trace / Sazerac, very nice tasting, and makes for a great Sazerac cocktail.

I'd second that.

 

[Cigarband]

For Bourbon Drinkers looking for a good Scotch.

Try Dalwhinney, the smoothest one I've ever had.