Jack Daniels Monogram Tennessee Whiskey

A couple of weeks ago I invested in and reviewed a bottle of Jack Daniels Silver Select Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey. I was not really blown away by the product. Last week I treated myself to a bottle of Jack Daniels Monogram Tennessee Whiskey. At $80 a bottle this was a much more pleasant experience. I found the box packaging to be a lot more attractive than the regular and silver select batches. The combination of textured black matt paper and silver glossy board paper gives the product an elite image.

JDMTW is marketed as a more intimate product from the Jack Daniels distillery. The literature on the back of the box explains that this batch was brewed by Jack ‘Jasper’ Daniels for his closest friends and therefore bears his monogram. This is of course a load of bullshit and I do not know why they even bother. I would be satisfied enough to know if this batch had been aged longer or distilled in a different manner. If I want fiction I will buy a John Grisham book.

This 94 proof batch of Jack Daniels whiskey is presented in an elegant bottle with a clean angular shape. The bottle is swathed in a leather sleeve that covers half the bottle and leaves a circular area exposed in the center of it to display the monogram signature. The JD monogram is printed on the front of the bottle in silver. I think it would have been a lot cooler if the monogram had been sandblasted or etched into the bottle. A cast metal emblem stuck on the bottle would have been even better.

I particularly like the way the outer box is black on the top half and silver on the bottom whereas the bottle contained within is wrapped in black leather only half way up leaving the glass of the top half exposed. I believe this is what is known as a reverse symmetrical design.

As for as taste, whereas I did not enjoy JDSSSTW, I thoroughly enjoyed JDMTW. The flavor was distinctly unique yet definitive of Jack Daniels. It did not go well with coca-cola or any other mixer at all but rolled perfectly well served on ice. It left no after burn after consumption as other bourbons do and after polishing half a bottle I got pretty tipsy with no hangover effects the next day. Cheap booze can leave one hell of a bad hangover.