Jack Daniel's Tennessee Tasters' Collection: High Angel's Share Barrels

Show of hands? Who out there is a Jack Daniels fan? Let’s see: one, two, three…keep the hands up, please…four, five, etc., etc.…okay, a few of you?

OK, now, who out there has ever tasted Jack Daniels? Just look at that. Hands going up everywhere. You can put your hands down now. Thank you.

Tennessee Tasters’ Collection

Personally, I am not a big fan of Old No. 7 (other than mixing it with Coke or orange soda - a story for another day). I do enjoy a single barrel, barrel strength JD, however. On a recent trip to Tennessee, I stumbled upon something I didn’t know existed: Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Tasters’ Collection. This is a group of five special release whiskies that are only available at the Jack Daniel’s gift shop in Lynchburg and at select retailers across Tennessee. The special releases are: a barrel proof rye, Barrel Reunion 1 (finished in red wine barrels), Barrel Reunion 2 (finished in oatmeal stout casks), Hickory Smoked , and High Angel’s Share barrels.

I picked up a bottle of the High Angel’s Share Barrels. This is described on the label as:

“Sometimes as our barrels rest in our barrelhouses, the angels take more than their usual share. Such is the case with this small batch of barrels from January 2013. The result of this increase loss to the heavens is a unique concentration of flavors left behind in these very special barrels.”

The label also discloses that this bottle was part of release number 1 and the release date was Fall of 2018. So, this whiskey is just shy of 6 years. The average barrel weight of the “high angel’s share barrels” is 295 pounds (also an interesting fact from the label). A Jack Daniels barrel, when full, weighs 550 pounds. According to the internets, in 5 to 6 years a JD barrel will lose about 30% of it’s contents. These high angel’s share barrels are creeping towards 50% on average.

The barrels included in the small batch were selected by Jack Daniel’s Master Taster and assistant Master Distiller, Chris Fletcher. The whiskey comes in 375 ml bottles, costs $40 and stands up at a 107 proof: pleasantly higher than Old No. 7’s 80 proof.

Review

So, thanks for the details, Kevin, but is it any good? Let’s find out:

Color: Copper. In the glass, it shines like a new penny.

Nose: Sweet and oaky. The sweet seems to be more maple than the blast of corn from standard Jack. There is a brief whiff of banana at first sniff. If I didn’t know better I would have thought I was nosing a Knob Creek if not for the slight wave of banana.

Taste: Vanilla with some pepper and baking spices notes and oak.

Finish: Some nice heat and a little pepper hops around for a while. Banana peeks in again to say “hey” just to remind you that it’s Jack Daniel’s, but it is not prevalent. To be completely honest (and hopefully not gross) a bit of vanilla clings to my mustache whiskers which I didn’t mind at all.

Comparison and Conclusion

If you like Jack Daniel’s, you should like this because this is actually really good. To me Old No. 7 is corn and bananas: the nose, taste and finish are all thin and bland, but distinctively Jack Daniel’s (so you’ve got that going for you…which is nice). If you like the single barrel, barrel strength version of Jack then I think you’ll really enjoy the High Angel’s Share. While it is a lower proof, it has many of the attributes you likely love about the JD SB/BS.

If you are in the Volunteer State, happen to visit there, or can find a reliable mule, I would recommend you pick up a bottle of the High Angel’s Share Barrels. Next time through I will try to find a barrel proof rye and see what we think of that!