BOTTLE DETAILS

• DISTILLER: Jack Daniel Distillery
• MASH BILL: 80% Corn | 8% Rye | 12% Malted Barley
• AGE: 10 years, 11 months
• YEAR: 2024
• PROOF: 134.7 (67.35% ABV)
• MSRP: $79.99
• BUY ONLINE: Available nationwide

STEVE’S NOTES

SHARE WITH: American whiskey fans who enjoy high proof, and any whiskey fan who’s never had barrel strength Jack Daniel’s.

WORTH THE PRICE: Absolutely.

BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bottle if you can find it. Bar if you see it.

OVERALL: Chris Fletcher, Jack Daniel’s eighth master distiler, led a Zoom press call to discuss this coveted annual release. As a native of Lynchburg, Tenn., Fletcher is doubly bound to Jack Daniel Distillery through his grandfather, Frank Bobo, the brand’s fifth master distiller from 1966 to 1988. Being close to his grandfather meant he saw the distillery inside and out as child and played near the now-famous rickhouses at Coy Hill, the highest point on the distillery campus’s hilly perimeter. It’s fun to listen to someone so closely connected to the products he makes.

While not the liver-shaking 150 proof release of two years ago, this year’s release still jabs the palate hard at 137.5 proof–but not so sharply that you shouldn’t drink it straight. It’s delicious in small sips, but those small sips, if not spaced out, can add up to some accumulated warmth down the gullet and some distinct across the tongue.

As we tasted along with Fletcher, he described the whiskey as “dense” multiple times. He also found “cherry, hard ribbon candy,” and “not the usual fresh fruit profile of Jack Daniel’s.” Agreed, mostly.

But there’s a lot more going on, and much of it is packed into that aforementioned density: bitter cocoa, huge allspice aroma, rickhouse and freshly dumped barrels. A glass of this could open up continually and reveal itself further easily for an hour. Among the density is old dried flowers, bitter walnuts, cinnamon red hots, aromatic bitters and dark soda bread. Are you getting the idea that this whiskey–aged on the high and hot fifth and sixth floors at Coy Hill–is wound tighter than a well-made cigar?

I’m not big on overly dry finishes, which is another reason to like this one. At almost 11 years old, any whiskey made in southern America risks being blanketed beneath oak notes. This one has escaped that fate, and in place of dryness is bottomless, chocolatey, leathery espresso-laden depth.

If you like food with whiskey, keep some fatty stuff handy: rich milk chocolate or caramel enrobed in chocolate, dry-cured ham, well-marbled steak or pulled pork shoulder. This banger of a Tennessee whiskey will waltz with any of those palate partners you choose.

BRAND NOTES

Jack Daniel’s Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 starts with Jack Daniel’s traditional Tennessee Whiskey mash bill of 80% corn, 12% malted barley, and 8% rye. After distillation, the whiskey was charcoal mellowed and entered into new, charred American white oak barrels in September of 2013 to mature on the fifth and sixth floors of Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8. After maturation at the distillery’s highest elevations, this expression was bottled at barrel strength with proofs ranging from 122 to 137.5.

Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 features Jack Daniel’s signature notes of caramel and vanilla alongside hints of candied fruit, rich toffee and molasses. Aromas of baking spices, cinnamon and clove pair with a balanced finish of charred oak and dark brown sugar.

Disclaimer: Bourbon & Banter received a sample of this product from the brand for review. We appreciate their willingness to allow us to review their products with no strings attached. Thank you.