Gadling

My husband, for some reason, gets a letter from Lynchburg, Tennesee where the Jack Daniel's Distillery is located a couple times a year. Someone signed him up once as a honorary shareholder or something. I really have no idea why these letters come, but it has hooked me into Jack Daniel's. Not drinking it, but I notice its name whenever I see it referenced and connect the name to Lynchburg. Aha! a marketing ploy, perhaps?

So what makes Jack Daniel's so special? It's only made in Lynchburg at the distillery, for one thing, and the distillery has the distinction of being the oldest registered whiskey distillery in the United States. Ever since 1866, the whiskey here has been made the same way. I'm not a whiskey drinker, but I like the thought of the history.

Here's another interesting thing about Jack Daniel's and an illustration of just how nutty laws can be. Moore County where the whiskey is made is a dry county. You can make whiskey in the county--10 million 9-liter cases a year--but outside the distillery you can't buy it. A dry county means you can't buy or sell alchohol in it. A wet county means you can. Since dry counties and wet counties are often next to each other, sometimes all you have to do is look for the liquor store across a county line.

If you head to Lynchburg, along with touring the distillery, you can take in the town that seems like it's the definition of quaint. Along with its turn of the century buildings, the surrounding countryside offers hills for wandering. The Tennessee Walking Horse also comes from this area and is the highlight of the Tennessee Walking Horse Museum.

This summer there are several special event weekends. Click here to find out what and when.

Filed under: History, Learning, Business, North America, United States