I have a complicated relationship with Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select and related JD SiB products. Sometimes they’re ok, sometimes they’re terrible and sometimes they’re amazing. The variability in their SiBs seems to be more than any other distillery.
This variability is why I’ve steered away from picking one up for review. But then I saw this little guy sitting in the liquor store and figured it a safe gamble. And, who knows, maybe it will make me reconsider my position and take a larger gamble on one of the Barrel Proof SiBs. Which is where I’ve tasted both the worst and best Jack Daniel’s I’ve ever had.
Now, let’s get to drinkin’!
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select – Details and Tasting Notes
Whiskey Details
Style: Tennessee Whiskey
Region: TN, USA
Distiller: Jack Daniel’s (Brown-Forman)
Mash Bill: 80% Corn, 12% Rye, 8% Malt
Cask: New Charred Oak
Age: 4+ Years
ABV: 47%
Jack Daniel’s Bonded Tennessee Whiskey Price: $30
Related Whiskey
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Rye
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Rye
Jack Daniel’s Gentleman Jack
Jack Daniel’s Old No. 07
George Dickel Single Barrel Review
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select Tasting Notes
EYE
Copperish amber
NOSE
Oak, dried dark fruit, complex baking spice, cocoa, leather and some fresh banana bran muffins.
Warm and deep, this is a shockingly good aroma for Jack.
PALATE
Oak, dried dark fruit, cinnamon, leather, chocolate Necco wafers, banana taffy.
Palate does not live up to the depth and richness the aroma promised, but it still ain’t bad.
FINISH
Medium -> Oak, leather, cinnamon, clove and banana.
BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
Ok balance, medium body, light soft feel.
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select – Overall Thoughts and Score
This gets a 3 by a nose hair. The aroma is wonderful and over the course of the two glasses I poured from this mini I enjoyed it more and more, but I liked the palate less and less. Half way through the second glass (2 days later) the palate picked up a slight astringent acetone-like quality that was a tad distracting.
Luckily, though, it didn’t dominate and instead was more like those annoying fruit flies that land in your whiskey in the summer: easy to ignore (or pick out in the fly case). Still Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select, this barrel anyways, is not a bad whiskey. Though if you really want a good JD, check out some of their newer releases, which we’ll be covering shortly.
SCORE: 3/5 (above average, worth checking out ~ B- | 80-82)
Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Select Review $30
Overall
3- Nose (3)
- Palate (3)
- Finish (3)
- BBF (3)