Jack Daniel’s 14 Year Old is One of its Best Whiskeys

Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

As someone who generally dislikes hypocrisy, let me say something hypocritical: Sometimes older whiskey really is better. For years, I’ve been part of the chorus of writers urging people not to pay too much attention to age statements because, in fact, older whiskey doesn’t necessarily equal better whiskey. But I dislike absolutism almost as much as hypocrisy, so of course there are exceptions to this, and every, rule. Case in point is the new Jack Daniel’s 14 Year Old, which is the oldest and, in my opinion, best whiskey to date from this iconic distillery.

Regular Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 is aged for four to six years, so this new whiskey has spent nearly triple that amount of time in barrels. The mashbill is the same: 80 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley, 8 percent rye (the only mashbill the distillery uses aside from the rye recipe it introduced a few years ago). I’ve written about master distiller Chris Fletcher’s innovations before, including the addition of an American single malt and age-statement whiskeys to the fold. The former sherry bomb of a whiskey was not my favorite, but the the previous 10- and 12-year-old expressions were absolutely fantastic. The new 14-year-old surpasses those standouts, however, even at 126.3 proof which is certainly high but not overpowering.

The key to letting a Tennessee whiskey age for this long without becoming a tannic oak bomb really comes down to barrel placement. According to Fletcher, barrels were moved at around eight years old from higher and hotter levels in the warehouse to cooler and lower levels, essentially slowing down the maturation process without actually using climate control. At 14 years old, this whiskey brings a new range of flavors into the mix that make it stand out from the previous age statements. Rich notes of barrel char, leather, tobacco, and vanilla custard lead on the palate. Those are followed by flavors like red berries, burnt orange peel, cinnamon red hots, and dark chocolate, with some dark roast espresso and even a hint of anise on the finish. The whiskey is well balanced and rounded, and is one of the best things Jack Daniel’s has released so far.

There will be future releases of Jack Daniel’s 14 Year Old, but batch one is already selling for astronomical prices on the secondary market, sometimes more than quadruple its $150 suggested retail price. So here’s another edict: Expensive whiskey doesn’t always equal better whiskey… except when it does. If you can find this bottle for close to its original asking price, drop everything and buy it. If you have to shell out close to a thousand bucks… well, that decision is between you and your financial advisor, whether that person is an accountant or your life partner. Fletcher says there will very likely be even older Jack Daniel’s releases to come sometime in the next few years. Will they be as good as this whiskey, or have we reached Jack’s maturation tipping point? I can’t wait to taste and find out.

Score: 97