Happy Tennessee Whiskey Day!

According to the statement made by the Tennessee state general assembly on May 5, 2021, as of this year, May 21 will be celebrated as International Tennessee Whiskey Day every year.

The most important purpose of this special day is to celebrate Tennessee whiskey, which has made a great cultural and economic contribution to both the United States and the state of Tennessee over the years and has become a symbol in its own right, and to honor everyone who contributed to the formation of this culture.

There is a special reason why May 21 was chosen to celebrate International Tennessee Whiskey Day. This date was especially chosen because it was the day the Prohibition practice, which started in the 1920s across the country, ended in 1937 in the state of Tennessee.

What Is Tennessee Whiskey?

Tennessee is one of the first regions that comes to mind when it comes to American whiskey. Tennessee, which is very suitable for whiskey production with its climate, rich water resources and favorable soils, is a state where the first settlers who immigrated to the new continent and dealing with whiskey set their homes for centuries.

Although there are different brands that produce whiskey in Tennessee, the most famous of them is the brand associated with the concept of "Tennessee". Jack Daniel'sis .

Photo Credit: peekcreativestudios.nl

The term "Tennessee" is often confused with Bourbon, another type of American whiskey. There is actually a very close relationship between these two. In fact, every Tennessee whiskey is also a Bourbon, but not every Bourbon is a Tennessee whiskey. Let me explain a little more.

Before we can call a whiskey a "Tennessee" whiskey, we look for certain conditions:

1. It must have been produced in the US state of Tennessee.
2. Yapımında işleme giren tahılın %51’i mısır olmalı. (Geri kalanı çavdar, buğday veya arpa olabilir)
3. The barrels used in maturation must be new barrels that have been burned, that is, barrels that have not been used before.
4. The resulting alcohol after distillation has to go through the "Coal Filtration" process known as the Lincoln County Process or Charcoal Mellowing before maturation.

As you have seen, the definition is quite similar to the definition of "Bourbon". The key difference between the two is that Tennessee whiskeys are additionally filtered through charcoal and then placed in barrels.

We can briefly describe this process as follows: Before the ripening stage, the distilled alcohol (we can't say whiskey yet) coming out of the retort is filtered drop by drop through the 3-meter-long tanks containing the maple woods that have been burned and turned into charcoal after soaking with whiskey, and then it is ripened.

It is to this process that we owe the smooth taste and slightly burnt flavor of Tennessee whiskeys.

One of Jack Daniel's brand coal filtration tanks.

So how to celebrate International Tennessee Whiskey Day? If you ask, the answer to your question is quite simple. Pour yourself a good Tennessee whiskey and accompany me to the one I created for American whiskeys on Spotify. from my list You can enjoy your whiskey by choosing a song.

My choice for this special day Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Select & Johnny Cash's Tennessee will be part of it.

You may also like;

All my American whiskey tasting notes…

What is the difference between Bourbon and Tennessee whiskeys?

My Spotify playlist for Tennessee and American whiskeys here. .