Why Is Jack Daniel's Not a Bourbon?
Here is the honest answer: by strict federal law, Jack Daniel's probably is a bourbon. It meets every single legal requirement in the federal standards of identity for bourbon under 27 CFR 5.143. Its mash bill is 80% corn, well above the 51% minimum. It is made in the United States. It is aged in new charred oak barrels. It is distilled below 160 proof, entered into the barrel below 125 proof, and bottled at 80 proof. No coloring, flavoring, or additives are added.
The reason Jack Daniel's is not called a bourbon is not because it fails a bourbon test. It is because Jack Daniel's chooses to call itself Tennessee whiskey instead, and the state of Tennessee has passed a law defining what Tennessee whiskey must be. That choice, and that law, are what create the distinction.
What Is the Lincoln County Process?
The Lincoln County Process is the single step that differentiates Tennessee whiskey from bourbon in practical terms. Before the new make spirit enters the aging barrel, it is slowly filtered drop by drop through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal. At Jack Daniel's, this filtering process takes several days. The charcoal removes certain compounds from the raw spirit and produces a smoother, slightly mellower character than unfiltered new make.
This step is named for Lincoln County, Tennessee, where charcoal mellowing was first widely used in the early 19th century. According to Jack Daniel's Master Distiller Chris Fletcher, one of the earliest known distillers to use the technique was Alfred Eaton, around 1825. Jack Daniel's itself has used the process since its founding.
Crucially, federal bourbon law says nothing about charcoal filtering. There is no rule requiring it and no rule prohibiting it. A bourbon can be charcoal filtered or not charcoal filtered. Brown-Forman, the company that owns Jack Daniel's, also produces a Kentucky straight bourbon called Cooper's Craft that uses charcoal filtering. So charcoal filtering alone cannot be a disqualifying factor under federal bourbon law.
So Why Does Jack Daniel's Call Itself Tennessee Whiskey?
Two reasons, and they are worth separating clearly.
The first is brand identity. Jack Daniel himself positioned his product as something distinctive from ordinary bourbon. The Tennessee whiskey designation allowed the brand to occupy its own category rather than competing directly with Kentucky producers on the same terms. Whether or not this reflects a meaningful production difference, it was an effective marketing decision that has held for over a century.
The second is state law. In 2013, the Tennessee General Assembly passed House Bill 1084, signed by Governor Bill Haslam, which codified a legal definition of Tennessee whiskey. Under that law, to be labeled as Tennessee whiskey, a spirit must be produced in Tennessee, made from at least 51% corn, filtered through maple charcoal before aging using the Lincoln County Process, aged in new charred oak barrels, and bottled at no less than 80 proof. These are essentially the bourbon requirements plus the charcoal filtering step.
Jack Daniel's was the primary force behind this legislation. By getting the Lincoln County Process written into Tennessee law as the defining characteristic of Tennessee whiskey, Jack Daniel's effectively required all Tennessee whiskey competitors to follow its production method or label their product as something else. As Tasting Table has noted, the rules for Tennessee whiskey just happen to match exactly the Jack Daniel's method.
The Nathan Green Connection
Understanding the full history of Tennessee whiskey requires acknowledging Nathan 'Nearest' Green, the formerly enslaved man who taught Jack Daniel how to distill. Green is now recognized as the first African American master distiller on record in the United States, a recognition that was long overdue.
Jack Daniel is said to have learned his craft from Green in the 1850s, when Daniel was a boy under the care of a local preacher named Dan Call. Green worked as the head distiller at Call's operation and passed his knowledge to Daniel. When Daniel founded his own distillery, Green became the first head distiller there. His contribution to the development of Tennessee whiskey as a category was foundational.
Today, the Uncle Nearest brand honors Green's legacy directly. Founded in 2017 by Fawn Weaver, Uncle Nearest produces Tennessee whiskey using the same Lincoln County Process that Green helped develop. It is one of the fastest-growing American whiskey brands and has helped ensure that Green's role in the history of American distilling is no longer overlooked.
Is Tennessee Whiskey a Type of Bourbon?
Legally, yes and no, depending on which legal framework you use.
Under U.S. federal standards, Tennessee whiskey is not a separate legally defined subcategory of bourbon. The TTB classifies it as a type of American whiskey. Jack Daniel's files its label with the federal government under the bourbon class in certain regulatory contexts. The North American Free Trade Agreement lists Tennessee whiskey as a subset of straight bourbon for trade purposes.
Under Tennessee state law, Tennessee whiskey is its own defined category with specific requirements, including the Lincoln County Process, that go beyond the federal bourbon standards.
The practical upshot is that Tennessee whiskey occupies a space that is simultaneously bourbon-by-federal-law and not-bourbon-by-brand-choice-and-state-law. This ambiguity is not a bug in the system. It is the result of effective lobbying by a brand that wanted its own protected category.
What Does Jack Daniel's Actually Taste Like Compared to Bourbon?
The Lincoln County Process does produce a perceptible difference in character from unfiltered Kentucky bourbon. The charcoal mellowing removes certain compounds and produces a slightly smoother, less raw new make spirit before it ever enters the barrel. The result after aging is a whiskey that tends to be somewhat softer and less assertively grain-forward than a comparable Kentucky bourbon.
However, the difference is subtle to most palates, especially after several years of barrel aging. A side-by-side tasting of Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 against a similarly aged Kentucky bourbon reveals more similarities than differences. Both carry vanilla, caramel, and oak. Both have the warmth of barrel-aged American whiskey. The Tennessee whiskey character is real but modest.
What the charcoal process does not do is make Jack Daniel's taste like something categorically different from bourbon. The brand's own marketing acknowledges this implicitly by trading heavily on bourbon-adjacent imagery and flavor descriptors.
Other Tennessee Whiskey Brands
Jack Daniel's is by far the most famous Tennessee whiskey but not the only one. George Dickel, produced at Cascade Hollow Distillery in Tullahoma, is Tennessee's second largest whiskey operation and also uses the Lincoln County Process. Dickel spells its product 'whisky' without the 'e', following the Scottish convention, and produces expressions noted for a somewhat crisper, drier character than Jack Daniel's.
Uncle Nearest, as described above, uses the Lincoln County Process and identifies as Tennessee whiskey while telling the story of Nathan Green's foundational contribution to the category. Several smaller Tennessee craft distilleries also produce expressions under the Lincoln County Process framework established by the 2013 state law.
Why Kentucky Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey Are Different in Practice
Whatever the legal technicalities, the bourbon industry and the Tennessee whiskey industry have distinct identities in practice. Kentucky bourbon producers work within a long tradition anchored by specific distilleries, specific rick house aging environments, specific water sources, and specific regional expertise. Tennessee whiskey producers work within a tradition anchored by the Lincoln County Process, a different limestone water table, and a different distilling heritage.
Visiting a Kentucky distillery produces a different experience from visiting a Tennessee distillery. The rick houses are different, the yeast strains are different, the aging conditions are different. The legal debate about whether Jack Daniel's is technically a bourbon is interesting, but it should not obscure the fact that these are genuinely different products with different characters produced in different places by people who take their regional distinctions seriously.
Ready to Taste the Real Difference in Kentucky?
The easiest way to settle the Jack Daniel's debate in your own mind is to taste a Tennessee whiskey alongside several Kentucky bourbons in the same session, with someone knowledgeable explaining the production differences as you go. Bourbon Excursions takes small groups to Kentucky's finest distilleries, where the bourbon tradition has been developing for over two centuries. If you are planning a Kentucky bourbon tour, contact us today to start building your trip.
About the Author
Joey Myers
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