Taste Test: Jack Daniel’s New Hazmat Rye Whiskey Is a Little Too Hot to Handle

Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

I truly am happy to see all of the innovation that has come out of the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg, Tenn., over the past few years. Well, all of it except for one—the release of some extremely high-proof, even hazmat level, Tennessee whiskeys. Jack’s latest Single Barrel Special Release, for better or worse, is a rye whiskey that falls into that category. And while there is a lot of flavor to this whiskey, the proof is just too high to fully enjoy it (something that I suspect not everyone will be willing to admit).

Jack Daniel’s Special Release series has featured some really interesting and tasty whiskeys over the years, highlighting how much more there is to the distillery than just Old No. 7. These include the Twice Barreled Rye, the distillery’s first American single malt, and the Heritage Barrel expression. Rye whiskey has only been part of the Jack Daniel’s lineup since 2011, when the first new mashbill since 1866 was put into production—70 percent rye, 18 percent corn, and 12 percent malted barley. That is the same mashbill used for this whiskey, which actually has a lot more in common with previous Coy Hill releases than other rye expressions.

Coy Hill is the name of one of the sites where Jack Daniel’s warehouses are located, and the buildings there yield some extremely high-proof whiskey. One Coy Hill release even had a special cork made to contain the volcanic whiskey within, which was bottled between 143 and 155 proof—that’s certifiable hazmat, as any whiskey over 140 proof (70 percent ABV) is deemed unsafe to bring onboard an airplane. Tanyard Hill, located next to Coy Hill, is home to four warehouses built in the early ’60s that also apparently yield barrels with truly bonkers levels of alcohol. The whiskey in question here was barreled in November of 2015 and aged in Barrel House 1 for about 10 years, and it was bottled as a single barrel expression that ranges between 130.2 proof and 148.8 proof (basically from strong Elijah Craig Barrel Proof territory to hazmat banger).

Master distiller Chris Fletcher himself recommends letting this whiskey breathe in the glass for a bit before you sip, and that’s not a bad idea. The sample I got to try was bottled on the higher end of the spectrum at 145.9 proof. Like all of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, it was filtered through charcoal before barreling, part of the Lincoln County process, but only through three feet instead of the usual 10 feet according to Fletcher (there’s less corn in the mashbill, and therefore less oil to be absorbed). Overall, this is a good whiskey, but it’s just too hot. Of course, given that it’s a single barrel expression, all of these tasting notes will vary—and the extreme differences in proof also make the flavors fluctuate, sometimes dramatically so.

I’m generally a fan of Jack Daniel’s rye, but the fact that this is a rye whiskey is kind of lost here because of the high proof. That signature Jack banana note is present as you sip, although much less so than you’d find in the distillery’s flagship Tennessee whiskey, and there are flavors like vanilla, maple, oak, cinnamon, and hot honey present. But all of this kind of gets covered up by a boozy electric blanket turned up to 11, and I would argue that you would be hard-pressed to identify this whiskey as a rye if you didn’t know that’s what it was.

Of course, proof chasers and hazmat hounds are going to love this whiskey, and there’s nothing wrong with that—drinking whiskey is an entirely subjective experience. The bottom line is that, despite my misgivings about this new rye, I hope Jack Daniel’s continues to take chances, try new things, and release more liquid innovations. Judging by Fletcher’s enthusiasm for all of this, and the reception these whiskeys have been getting from the fans, that seems to be the path going forward.

Score: 88