Bought – ASDA, 14th October 2013
Ratings:
92/100 – Whisky Bible 2013
It was only after I bought this bottle that I realised – I don’t think I’ve ever drunk Jack Daniels before! If I did it was such a long time ago I can’t remember what it tasted like. Chances are it tasted like coke because a ‘Jack & Coke’ is how you drink it, isn’t it? My knowledge about drinking Tennessee Whiskey is sadly lacking. I will have to do some research before I tuck into this bottle!
One thing I’ve noticed is that the standard of JD has improved according to Jim Murray. In his whisky bible of 2009 he only scores the No.7 87/100 so it’s jumped up 5 points in recent years. It seems unfair to shove coke into it and disguise the taste of a drink which has improved that much. Anything between 90 and 93.5 in Jim’s scoring system is “brilliant”.
Update – I poured myself a glass of this JD and nearly threw it away because the smell of glue was overpowering. Ralfy mentions this nose experience of the No.7 at the start of his review of Gentleman Jack. Rather than adding coke or chucking it down the sink I left it in the glass for 10 minutes. When I went back the glue smell had gone and the dram wasn’t half bad! I wouldn’t give it 92/100 as in the Whisky Bible but it is pleasant enough to drink. Nevertheless I’ll finish the rest of the bottle with coke because a ‘Jack & Coke’ were made for each other.
Here’s Horst Luening of Whisky.com with his thoughts about the JD No.7 (YouTube June 2014):
Whisky Den 