This was a prevalent phrase, with various endings, that graced many of the souvenirs in downtown Lynchburg, TN. Tracy and I decided to venture on the
Spirits and Wine Trail of
Tennessee Tourism to visit several distilleries and wineries in the Middle Tennessee area. We ended up only visiting two of the five... one winery was closed for the "holiday weekend", we decided one whiskey distillery was enough, and we got lost and then couldn't find the rum distillery. But we did get a tour of the famous
Jack Daniel's distillery of Lynchburg, TN, and we visited the cute and tasty
Beans Creek Winery of Manchester, TN.
Our first stop was Lynchburg. The visitor's center was beautiful. The tour itself was fun and very informative- I would recommend it to anyone! The interesting thing- the only Jack Daniels you are actually able to buy in ALL of Lynchburg are the expensive registered bottles that you never open. Lynchburg and the distillery are in a dry county! In fact, (if I heard things right on the tour) the only reason Jack Daniels was able to reopen after prohibition is because they got special government permission. And do you know why the government gave them permission? Jack Daniels single-handedly pays the government over $20 million in liquor taxes every year! Enjoy the pictures!
Did you know Jack Daniels died by almost literally "kicking the bucket"? Actaully it was a safe, this safe. He got mad because it wouldn't open one day and he kicked it. Infection set in and turned gangrene, he lost his toe, then his foot, then his leg and eventually his life.
This is the first stop on the tour. These are the giant furnaces that burn the wood that makes the charcoal that purifies the alcohol that gives Jack it's flavor.
Luckily for us, just down from the furnaces was the firehouse. These antique fire engines used to save the day anytime there was a fire.
This picture is for my friend Ryan- he likes to take pictures of car emblems. I liked this one from the fire engine and wanted to share it with him.
This is a cave where you can see some of the runoff from the spring that provides ALL of the water for Jack Daniels. That is why Jack is ONLY made in Lynchburg, TN, they use this mountain spring water.
After the grain is delivered (Yeah Midwest!) it is brought into the still.
Then it is put into giant fermenting vats.
Where it ferments and ferments- it's even grosser in person and smells like vomit!
At some point it is put through the charcoal purifying process, twice. At this point, if memory serves, it is double its sold strength, around 140 proof (might be off on that number). At this point though, it smells amazing!
Then it is aged in special barrels stored in the barrel house. This picture does not do justice to the size of this place, and it's not the only one. It is three stories high with barrels lined up and stacked with just enough room to walk. This is where the tasters work, making sure that each barrel lives up the the great name of
Jack Daniels. Wouldn't that be a fun job!
This is a stamped barrel.
Finally, it is bottled, packaged and shipped to stores where us lucky patrons can enjoy!
Our tour ended in the saloon at the visitor's center where only lemonade is offered. But we did get to see the Jack Car!
Later we stopped at the Beans Creek Winery. They have a cute little gift shop and then an area for tasting. We had lots of fun and both of us made extravagent purchases, though this magnet was my favorite, I think...
We finished off the evening back in Nashville by enjoying a delicious and entertaining dinner at
Carrabba's Italian Grill. The food was savory. But our entertainment made the evening. We sat at their pizza and pasta bar- right in front of their cooks. We sat at the end right in front of the pizza grill- which they have the fire pit for. Next to him was the salads and desserts guy. We had fun watching them work- then at the end of our meal, the dessert guy brought us free dessert! It was a great finale to a wonderful day!
