If you are a whiskey lover, you will know that it is a spirit produced from fermented grain and aged in the wood.
And a spirit is an alcoholic beverage in which the alcohol content has been increased by distillation.
We had a chat with Jack Daniels Master Distiller, Chris Fletcher who shared with us the process of making one of the top-selling whiskey in the world which is Jack Daniel’s.
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A post shared by Jack Daniel's South Africa(@jackdaniels_sa) on Oct 19, 2019 at 4:30am PDT
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Cave spring water and a combination of corn, barley and rye (otherwise known as a mash bill) are cooked in a 10,000-gallon tank.
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Yeast and sour mash are combined, and fermentation begins in a 40,000-gallon tank. There are 64 tanks. The sour mash mixture ferments for three to six days.
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The mixture is distilled to yield 140-proof whiskey.
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The mixture is mellowed, drop-by-drop, through ten feet of hard sugar maple charcoal, a process that takes an additional three days. This process softens the whiskey, removing much of the grainy flavor.
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The mellowed whiskey is placed into a new, toasted and charred American white oak barrel.
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The filled barrels are stored in one of the distillery’s 90 barrel horses for four to seven years.
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During maturation, the barrel imparts all of the whiskey’s color and more than half of its flavor.
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When whiskey tasters determine that the whiskey is mature, the barrels are removed from the warehouse and the whiskey is bottled and shipped around the globe.