Time to bitch at Jack Daniels

Once again Jack Daniels recently lowered the proof of Black label. It is now the same rating as Green Label. It used to be that Black was 90 proof and Green was 80. Black dropped to 86 and just recently to 80 proof itself.

Since the formula and process are exactly the same (as admitted by Jack Daniels) the only difference now could be age. However, neither version has an age statement and unlike bourbon has no legal minimum of aging. (Bourbon has to be aged 3 years to be called bourbon, JD is not bourbon).

Here is the reply to an email I sent questioning the latest change.

ME: Now that you have ruined Black Label by lowering (again) the
proof, when will you lower the price to the level of Green Label? They
are now the same exact product.

JD: Our Black Label and Green Label Label Tennessee Whiskey are two different products. Both come from the same recipe and through the same process, but the difference comes into play when the whiskey is aged (from four to six years) in the warehouse. Different locations and temperatures within the warehouse can affect how some barrels mature. Black Label is a more mature whiskey with a darker color and character and is priced to reflect that difference.

HOWEVER, they provide no proof of this statement. Notice that JD didn't say that Black label was older, just more mature based on the storage and temperature location in the warehouse? Scotch bottlers could never get away with that. For years the assumption was the proof difference and JD never did anything to counter that assumption. I can't prove this but having talked to people who have drank JD for years and years, this is their feeling too.

If you have any thoughts on this please email jack_daniels@lynchburg.jackdaniels.com and let them know how you feel.

Email sent.

I thought the green label was rye. And Jack is still 86 here. Maybe the old stuff just hasn't cleared out of the warehouse yet. Aging shouldn't effect proof either, that is detemined when they water down the higher proof stuff to the bottling proof they want.

The Green Label has always been a lower proof. I've never seen a JD rye. JB (Jim Beam) makes a rye. As the header says, they have just lowered the proof of the Black label to 80. The new stock only recently hit my part of PA and may not show up in your area for awhile. Read the first post about what they use to differentiate the two now and that should make you wonder enough to drop JD a line or two.

Aging does effect proof do an extent but not too much in the 4-6 year range that JD is aged. Alcohol evaporates faster so unusually old (25+ years) casked spirits will drop in proof as time goes on.