Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Rye is an American rye whiskey from the distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, built around an unusually high proportion of rye. Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Rye draws its flavour from an uncommon grain recipe with 70% rye – the distillery's first new grain bill since before Prohibition. The 0.7 l bottle is bottled at 45% ABV.
The foundation is this line's distinctive mash bill. The recipe is based on 70% rye, 18% corn and 12% malted barley. Its production uses the same water from the Cave Spring, the proprietary yeast and the charcoal mellowing process as the 150-year-old Tennessee Whiskey recipe. The whiskey comes from a single barrel, and every bottle is an expression of one selected hogshead.
On the nose, the peppery character of rye leads, with a touch of sweetness. Notes of toasted rye bread with butter and vanilla emerge, with accents of herbs and campfire smoke, followed by plenty of fruit: pear, banana and pineapple, and behind them a series of sweet tones – caramel, toffee and butterscotch – with a cinnamon-bread-style finish. On the palate, the rye remains pronounced, though not dominant. Complex notes of ripe fruit combine with a delicate tone of toasted oak, building a flavour rich in spice and a pleasant, lingering finish – this is a big, bold rye that nevertheless does not overwhelm.
This is an expression with an established place in the producer's range. Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Rye reached the market in February 2016 as part of the Single Barrel collection, following the Single Barrel Select and Barrel Proof versions. The mash bill of 70% rye, 18% corn and 12% malted barley gives the whiskey a clean, sweet tone on the tip of the tongue and a more expressive, slightly shorter finish than the other variants in the Single Barrel collection.