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Something interesting is going on with the Brown-Forman brands in the United States. For decades, they have never really bothered with putting age statements of any kind on their products. Perhaps they didn’t feel like they had to. After all, it never seemed to impact their sales. Nowhere was that more true than with Jack Daniel’s.
Over the last 10 years, Brown-Forman began to realize they were falling behind as the whiskey scene was in the midst of a transition. All of the sudden age statements mattered and other brands were eager to show them off. Consumers began to show preference to those bottles. Brown-Forman’s marketing team hit the panic button and began to embrace them. Suddenly we saw Woodford Reserve and Old Forester begin to put age statements (or at least talk about age statements in their press releases) on more bottles. Jack Daniel’s was told to find ways to also do this. But why now? What changed?
Jack Daniel’s embraces age statements, one step at a time
The reason behind the lack of age statements on Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey was probably twofold. 1.) The hot Tennessee climate allowed barrels to mature faster than distilleries farther north, so even though the tasters said they were fully-matured, they looked less-mature “on paper” compared to other brands and 2.) Other distilleries create premium products to draw attention to the brand as a whole. But for Jack Daniel’s, their standard No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey WAS the brand. They never felt the need to create more premium products because they had no shortage of customers.
Heck, even after they decided to make more premium-priced products, their marketing and sales team concluded that a majority of customers didn’t care about the actual whiskey. They did just fine with putting Frank Sinatra’s name on the bottle or using a shiny gold box with a maple-wood finished whiskey inside. Customers were still eager to pony up $130 or more for these kinds of bottles.
But gimmicks like this would never bring true prestige to the brand. To the growing number of whiskey enthusiasts, Jack Daniel’s was beneath them and their evolving tastes. That all began to change starting in 2018 with the introduction of the annual “Special Release” line.
Jack Daniel’s Special Release Coy Hill
Jack Daniel’s enjoyed a good deal of success in the eyes of enthusiasts after showing them that they could be innovative and exciting. The first few releases demonstrated how different Tennessee Whiskey could taste with an ultra-low barrel entry proof or how their rye whiskey tasted at barrel strength.
Then came the 2021 Coy Hill release that not only saw some of the highest-proofed bottles ever released by the company, but also some of the oldest. The age statement was a little over 9 years old. Jack kept up the pace by putting out 10 and 12-year-old products as part of their core lineup.
I have my thoughts on why Jack Daniel’s is suddenly capable of producing double-digit aged whiskies when they previously didn’t in the past, but I’ll save that for another article. The important thing is that they’re doing it and they’re doing it well.
For 2024, Jack returns again to the Coy Hill label. The age has gone up this time but the proof drops a bit. No single barrel that was selected is over 140 proof (unlike last time). Instead, these will range from 122 and 137.5 proof. Every barrel that was bottled for this release has still been aged inside of a Coy Hill barrelhouse just like the previous releases were. You may recall that the 2021 release actually came from two barrelhouses – #8 and #13. The bottle labels would identify which one it came from.
For the 2024 release, all barrels have been identified as coming from Barrelhouse #8. Aside from the 2021 and 2024 Coy Hills, the only other time Jack has indicated which barrelhouse their barrels came from was for the release of Jack Daniel’s Barrelhouse 1 in 1994. Anyway, here’s where Barrelhouse 8 is located on the map.
Rather than picking barrels from the top floors like previous versions, the barrels for this year’s Special Release were picked mainly from the middle floors (4 and 5). The temperatures these floors experience is slightly more temperate and likely result in less liquid evaporation. The single barrel I’m reviewing today had a fill date of September 4, 2013 and a bottling date of August 8, 2024 – just 27 days shy of turning 11 years old. If I told you back in 2018 that Jack Daniel’s was going to release an 11 and 12 year old Tennessee Whiskey in 2024, you would have probably laughed in my face. But here we are.
So how does the newest Coy Hill taste? Thanks to my friend Mike over at Mostly Peaceful Bourbon, I’m going to find out. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: A robust, well-rounded nose that starts with notes of sweet caramel, pecan pie and banana bread. Spice comes from some cinnamon and sweet oak. There are darker notes like coffee grounds and melted chocolate. I even get a little bit of apple fritter donut throughout. This is incredible to sniff.
Palate: Just like the nose, the flavors I find on my tongue are powerful and rich. Sweet notes like caramel sauce and molasses mix with pecan pralines. More banana bread (with chocolate chips) mixes with flat root beer and black cherries to deliver slightly more fruit than other Jack products. Spices lend a hand to upping the flavor and heat – I can pick out black peppercorns and strong cinnamon candies. There’s even a little bit of licorice lurking about. Tannins are mostly tame and include oak, coffee grounds and wood char. Overall every note is surrounded by an oily mouthfeel which is something that is normally rare for me to find in a Jack product.
Finish: The end of the sip brings on slightly drier notes of charred wood, cinnamon powder, brownie edges and tobacco leaf. The licorice note (or is it just star anise?) remains. Thankfully, there are some sweet and fruity notes at the end that balance everything out and make this a very satisfying finish. Banana, dates, slightly burnt caramel and heavy vanilla all compliment the ending.
Score: 8.8/10
After completing this review and assigning it a rating, I looked back at my previous review of the 2021 Coy Hill release. I noticed that the rating I gave it was higher than this one – a 9/10. However, I feel as if the 2024 Special Release is still very much its equal. Sure, there’s the factor of these being single barrels meaning some will be better than others, but the 2024 release seems even more refined than the sometimes-wild 2021 release was.
There’s no doubt in my mind that this year’s Coy Hill now holds the crown as the pinnacle of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. All other versions of Jack seem to be missing such a wide-range of flavors or the oak tannins that come along with long maturation periods. That’s not the case here. This bottle checks the box on basically everything that I’d want in a whiskey.
Final Thoughts
Think you’re going to be able to find a bottle this year? Good luck. Coy Hill bottles have gained a mythical status among enthusiasts for years, so everyone is already scrambling to find their own. Not only do more serious enthusiasts have to compete with each other to get their own bottle, but they have to contend with the legions of Jack Daniel’s fans who just like the brand because it’s what they grew up on.
But is this a bottle worth hunting? I’d say yes. You’re going to pay more for one, but this is a chance to taste perhaps the best Jack Daniel’s product they’ve ever released. And sure there will be older ones (we’re awaiting for Jack Daniel’s 14 Year 107 proof to drop any day now) or higher proofed ones (nothing will ever beat the 2022 Coy Hill Small Batch releases), but this is the total package. Don’t try to buy a bottle now (secondary prices are between $450 and $700), instead wait a couple months for the market to cool off. What you’re getting is just as good as the 2021 single barrels that are still going for over $800/bottle.
It’s rare I’d recommend shopping the secondary market, but after one taste of this year’s Coy Hill, I’m all in. It’s a bottle that’s totally worth it.
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Corey
Tuesday 29th of October 2024
Got luck in 2020 and still have that special release sealed, for now. Would love to find this one too! I've been able to sample most of these in the past and they are amazing.