Jack Daniel's Distillery Series #17 Tennessee Whiskey
When the Angel’s Share Becomes Part of the Story
There are plenty of ways a whiskey distillery can experiment. Change the grain bill. Try a different barrel. Finish the whiskey in something unexpected. Push the proof. Change the way the barrels are toasted or where they're stored. Or, in the case of Jack Daniel’s latest Distillery Series release, you can put the whiskey in an unusually hot place, leave it alone for years, and see what happens.
That is the story behind Jack Daniel’s Distillery Series Selection #17: High Angel’s Share Straight Tennessee Whiskey.
And it is a pretty fascinating story.
Jack Daniel’s began with traditional Tennessee Whiskey laid down in barrels in 2016. Those barrels were then placed on the top floor of Barrelhouse 1-13 on Coy Hill, where they spent nearly a decade aging in some of the distillery's more extreme conditions. The heat encouraged a greater-than-normal amount of evaporation—the phenomenon whiskey makers affectionately call the angel’s share.
What remained in the barrels was a more concentrated whiskey.
Jack Daniel’s has now bottled that whiskey at 138.4 proof, in a 375 mL bottle. So, is all that evaporation actually a good thing? That's what makes this release worth exploring.
What Is the Angel’s Share?
If you're new to whiskey, the term angel's share might sound a little mysterious. It really isn't. As whiskey ages in a barrel, some of the liquid slowly evaporates through the wood. The whiskey that disappears is the angel's share. The amount that evaporates can vary considerably depending on the environment in which the barrels are stored. Temperature, humidity, barrel location and other factors all play a role.
And this is where Coy Hill becomes important. The barrels selected for Distillery Series #17 spent their time on the top floor of Barrelhouse 1-13, where higher temperatures created conditions for increased evaporation. According to Jack Daniel's Master Distiller Chris Fletcher, the release is an example of what happens when the distillery allows nature to take the lead. Rather than trying to prevent the whiskey from changing, Jack Daniel's essentially allowed the environment to push the maturation process in a particular direction.
The result? Less whiskey in the barrel—but potentially more concentration in what remained.
Coy Hill: Location Matters
One of the things I find most interesting about whiskey is that aging isn't simply about putting a barrel away and waiting. Where that barrel spends those years matters - and sometimes in a BIG way.
Coy Hill has become particularly interesting to Jack Daniel's fans because of the way the environment can affect maturation. The upper levels of the barrelhouses can experience significant heat, and that heat can increase the interaction between the whiskey and the barrel while also increasing evaporation.
Jack Daniel's has experimented with this concept before. The distillery's 2018 Tennessee Tasters' Selection, for example, included a High Angel's Share Barrels release that featured whiskey with an unusually low yield and a concentrated flavor profile. And in 2021, Jack Daniel's released Coy Hill High Proof, another expression that explored what happens when whiskey matures in the extreme conditions found at the top of the Coy Hill barrelhouses.
So Distillery Series #17 isn't necessarily an entirely new idea for Jack Daniel's. But it is another opportunity to see just how much the environment can influence the whiskey inside a barrel.
Nearly a Decade in the Barrel
The whiskey used for Selection #17 was laid down in 2016. That's roughly ten years of maturation before the whiskey made its way into these bottles.
But here's something important to remember: Age doesn't tell the entire story of a whiskey. A ten-year-old whiskey matured in one part of a barrelhouse may taste very different from a ten-year-old whiskey matured somewhere else. That's part of what makes this release so intriguing.
The whiskey began as traditional Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, but its environment changed the trajectory of its maturation. There was no need for a secondary barrel finish or an elaborate series of additional steps. The experiment was essentially: Put the whiskey in a particularly intense environment and let time do its thing.
Sometimes the simplest experiments are the most interesting.
And Then There's the Proof
Let's talk about 138.4 proof. This bottle is for the "proof chasers" and the whiskey afficianados alike.
For comparison, Jack Daniel's standard Tennessee Whiskey is bottled at 80 proof. This is a completely different animal. At nearly 70% ABV (referred to as "hazmat" in the whiskey world), Distillery Series #17 is not a whiskey I'd approach casually. This is a pour that deserves some time in the glass. And that's part of the fun.
High-proof whiskey can be incredibly expressive, but it can also overwhelm the palate if you aren't patient with it. Our plan with this bottle is to experience it several ways: First, neat in a Glencairn.
Then I'll give it some time to open up in the glass. And finally, I'll add a small amount of water to see what happens. That's one of the best parts of tasting a barrel-strength or batch-proof whiskey. A few drops of water can sometimes reveal aromas and flavors that were hiding behind the alcohol.
At 138.4 proof, we have a feeling this whiskey may have a few things to say.
The Bottle
There is another detail that immediately caught my attention: the bottle size. Distillery Series #17 comes in a 375 mL bottle, as do all of the releases in the Distillery Series. That's half the size of a traditional 750 mL whiskey bottle, but we actually think the smaller format makes sense here.
This isn't necessarily an everyday whiskey.
At nearly 70% ABV, a little goes a long way. A 375 mL bottle gives whiskey enthusiasts the opportunity to explore an unusual Jack Daniel's expression without having to commit to a full-size bottle. The suggested retail price is $44.75, which also makes this a relatively approachable way to experience one of Jack Daniel's more experimental releases.
For collectors, it is a very interesting addition to the Distillery Series. For whiskey drinkers, the real question is whether what is in the bottle justifies the price. And that's something the tasting will ultimately have to answer.
The Tasting Experience
Colors of rusted antique barn metal with streaks of gold. Super clear with appearances of rich book leather. On the nose initially were the famous and expected banana notes, joined with sorghum, maple candy and barn wood. The whiskey is immediatley mouth-coating and swirling produces some fine looking legs on the glass.
On the palate are deep, concentrated flavors of toasted nut, bananas foster, vanilla, homemade caramel chews and well-balanced spices. For such a high proof whiskey, you would generally expect a bigger burn. Don't get us wrong - the proof is making an appearance, but it isn't an "in your face" fire ball.
We then added two drops of water to the glass and that opened up more aromas and flavors. Dark red fruits, black cherry, grilling spices and the smallest hint of dark chocolate on the finish. The finish is lingering, satisfying and rewarding.
We have had the good fortune of tasting several expressions from the Distillery Series and to date, we feel this one is our favorite. We LOVE what the Jack Daniel Distillery and Master Distiller Chris Fletcher are doing. While we've been huge fans of Old Number 7 for decades, the releases that have hit the market in the past 4-5 years have been nothing short of amazing.
If Jack Daniel's isn't on your watch list, you're missing out.
Final Thoughts
Distillery Series #17 is exactly the kind of release we enjoy seeing from a major distillery.
Jack Daniel's has a long history and a very recognizable house style, but that doesn't mean there isn't room to experiment. In this case, the experiment is relatively simple: take traditional Tennessee Whiskey, put it in an extreme maturation environment, give it nearly a decade, and see what nature does. The result is a small-batch, high-proof whiskey that offers Jack Daniel's fans something well outside the ordinary.
And that's really what the Distillery Series is supposed to do. It gives us a chance to see a different side of a familiar whiskey.
For us, the most interesting part of Distillery Series #17 isn't necessarily the 138.4 proof or the fact that it is from the famous Coy Hill barrelhouses. It's everything that happened before the whiskey ever made it into the bottle. We have nearly a decade of time, extreme heat, evaporation and a bunch of whiskey going to the angels! Now it's our turn to see what they left behind.
ABV: 69.2% (138.4 proof)
Distillery: Jack Daniel Distillery
Suggested retail price: $44.75 (375mL bottle)
Drink The Bottles score: 95/100
