Do
You Know Jack?
In
the early 1800s, when Tennessee was still a wilderness, Joseph Daniel
and his family settled in Franklin Country. The Motlow family, headed
by Agnes Motlow, a revolutionary War widow, settled in adjacent Lincoln
Country, Joseph's son, Calaway, and his wife, Lucinda Cook, had ten
children, one of them Jasper Newton Daniel, who became known as "Jack".
Jack's sister, Finetta, eventually married Felix Motlow, and thus
the names Motlow and Daniel became entwined in history.
Jack Daniel was very young when his mother died. His father remarried,
and with so many brothers and sisters, there was little attention
left for jack, and he left home to live with a neighbor, Felix Waggoner.
At the age of seven, he went to work for Dan Call, a preacher who
also made whiskey and sold it at his store. Jack Daniel worked very
hard for Dan Call, and proved himself an apt student. He took a particular
interest in the whiskey-making operation and learned it so well that
Dan Call made him a full partner. Eventually, Dan Call began to feel
that he needed to give his ministry his full attention, and he sold
the entire business to Jack Daniel, who was 13 at the time.
Jack Daniel was set on making the best whiskey possible. He made his
whiskey mostly from corn, with rye and barley malt. The old "yeasting
back" process was used, which required the retention of a portion
of the mash from the previous run, in order to start a new batch.
This is often referred to as the "sour mash" batch. He also
insisted on using an old leaching process that had traditionally been
used in Lincoln County to smooth the newly-made whiskey after it came
from the still. It took an additional ten-to-twelve days for whiskey
to "leach" through the vats packed with charcoal, but Jack
Daniel thought it was well worth the time and effort. No one knows
for sure where the idea of "charcoal mellowing" began, but
it was known as the "The Old Lincoln County Process," and
Lincoln County whiskey was considered to be the finest made.
As the fame of his whiskey spread, Jack Daniel searched for an abundant
source of limestone water. He found it flowing from a cave spring
in a hollow near Lynchburg. Iron free and always flowing at 56 degree
Fahrenheit, this water source has proven to be ideal in making the
unique whiskey from Jack Daniel's Hollow. This water, plus the special
charcoal mellowing process, set Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey apart
from all others.
In the early 1860s, the Federal Government began its plan to regulate
and tax all whiskey-making operations, and 1866, the Jack Daniel Distillery
became the first registered distillery in America.
Since Jack Daniel never married and didn't have any children, he took
his favourite nephew, Lem Motlow, under his wing. Lem had a head for
numbers and was soon doing all the distillery's bookkeeping. In 1907,
due to failing health, Jack Daniel gave the distillery to his nephew,
Lem, and his cousin, Dick Daniel. (Dick later sold his share to Lem)
A few years earlier, Jack Daniel had lost his temper and kicked the
old safe in his office. At first he suffered only a mild limp, but
it got progressively worse. Eventually, gangrene set in, and six years
after the original incident, jack Daniel died.
Lem was a very good businessman, and he was known to be a very fair
and generous man. When prohibition closed all the distilleries, Lem
went into the mule business and started a mule auction. Lynchburg
became one of the largest mule trading centers in the south. The mule
business thrived until after the First World War
In 1938, some years after the repeal of prohibition, Lem resumed operations
at the Lynchburg Distillery and continued until 1942, when the Government
banned all whiskey making for the duration of World War II. While
the Government lifted its ban on whiskey making in 1946, a provision
remained allowing only inferior grades of grain to be used. Lem Motlow,
unwilling to compromise the quality of his whiskey, refused to resume
operation until 1947, when the restriction was lifted and the fines
grains obtainable could be utilized.
In 1947, Lem Motlow died, passing the distillery on to his four sons,
Reagor, Robert, Daniels Evans (also known as Hap) and Connor. The
Motlow brothers, while increasing production, always remained faithful
to the tradition of quality set down by Jack Daniel and their father.
Mr. Jacks's slogan "Every day we make it, we'll make it the best
we can," remains the goal of the distillery today. Reagor, first
born, and always General Manager under his father's guiding hand,
assumed the position of President. He, along with Hap, Robert and
Connor, became known as the "shirt-sleeve brothers" of Tennessee
whiskey fame.
The times were changing as was the tax situation. In the 1950s, a
tax of $10.50 for each gallon of whiskey in storage had to be paid
upfront before the whiskey was sold. This was a huge sum, and since
whiskey is a product of undetermined value, it would have had a devastating
effect on all the Motlows if the price dropped. Also, as the distillery
was family owned and the stock was "undivided," if a member
of the motlow family were to die, there would be a very complicated
inheritance tax problem.
For these reason, the Motlows decided to change the financial structure
of the distillery, and in 1956, sold out to the Brown-Forman Company
of Louisville, Kentucky. The Brown family, like the Motlows, respect
the quality, tradition and time honored methods of making whiskey
so carefully laid down by Mr. Jack Daniel himself, nearly 140 years
ago.
