--Mark Twain
The South is full of ridiculous liquor laws. No sales on Sunday. Beer sold only at room temperature. No sales after 10 PM. Or, no sales at all. Which is the case in Moore County, TN -- better known as the location of Jack Daniel's Distillery, where they produce somewhere around 35,000 gallons of whiskey per day. "Could I order a cold beer, Sir?" ILLEGAL. "Can I manufacture enough whiskey to inebriate the entire world?" Knock yourself out! Just so long as we protect the good Christian folks around here from buying it. Or just sell it in the next county over. Whichever.
This is the place where liquor and Jesus reach critical mass.
But, at any rate, they have been making some damn fine whiskey for over 100 years. Tennessee whiskey. Not bourbon, dammit. The two are very similar, save for a few key elements. TN whiskey is aged in plain maple barrels. Bourbon is aged in charred oak barrels. After aging, TN whiskey is filtered through charcoal. Bourbon isn't (it doesn't need it).
We toured the distillery recently. It's a pretty impressive spread, especially all of the barrel houses where they age the whiskey. And while you can't drink, you can get a bit of a head rush from the vapors seeping out of the few thousand or so whiskey-filled wooden barrels that surround you. It's kind of intense. Mostly just makes you fancy a drink. It is worth checking out. The tour guides are a hoot, and the tour is free.
When you go into town for lunch, just make sure you order a Jack and Coke.
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