Jack Daniel’s 14-, 12- and 10-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey Review: Age Matters

BOTTLE DETAILS

• DISTILLER: Jack Daniel Distillery,
• MASH BILL: 80% Corn| 8% Rye | 12% Malted Barley
• AGES: 14, 12 and 10 years
• YEAR: 2025
• PROOF: 14-year, 126.3 (63.15% ABV), 12-year, 107 (53.5% ABV) and 10-year 97 (48.5% ABV) 
• MSRP: $149.99, $94.99 and $84.99, respectively
• BUY ONLINE: "Available in limited quantities across the U.S."

STEVE'S NOTES

SHARE WITH: Any Jack Daniel's fan who's never gone beyond Old No. 7, any whiskey fan who thinks Jack Daniel's is "just Old No. 7," and whiskey fans in general who like robust, well-aged whiskies.

WORTH THE PRICE: Yes, on all three. This is the going rate in 2025 for rare stuff, and these are really good whiskies.

BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bottle on all three.

OVERALL: The February 24 Zoom press call was led by the always affable master distiller, Chris Fletcher, grandson of Frank Bobo, master distiller at Jack Daniel Distillery from 1966 to 1998. Fletcher is prima facie evidence that real whiskey makers are generally friendly, fun people who love their trade. Despite working on this 14-year release for many years, he seemed as amused to nose and sip it as the 30-odd reporters on the call. Some of his comments:

• This is the first time Jack Daniel has released a whiskey this old in more than a century. The last man to do that was Jack himself.
• He said the 14-year's huge fruit notes are products of proprietary yeast and long aging. "Yeast is far more impactful on flavor than grain bills," he said. He ain't kidding. It's a fruit bomb.
• After decades of whiskey released at generally 6 years of age, Jack Daniel now has regular releases of 10, 12 and 14-year-old liquid. Now the goal is to get let its deep stocks age until 18 and even 21 years, which would meet the oldest age-stated whiskies ever released by Jack Daniel.
• Barrels for 10, 12 and 14 year spend their first 8 to 9 years aging on the top floors of various rickhouses. Then, and much to the chagrin of rickhouse workers who have to haul them out and move them to the bottom floors of other rickhouses, the lower temps there "slow down the extraction."
• "We look at it like this: When it's on the top floor, it's like searing a steak," he said. Moving it to bottom floor is more akin to simmering food.
• 2025 will see the 10 year become available internationally for the first time. Fletcher's flavor notes on it included cherry hard candy, caramelized sugar and "a twist on those esters," i.e. fantastic aromas.
• On the 12 year, he described its aromas as "confectionary, butterscotch, assorted chocolates in a box, milk chocolate and dark chocolate. I don't get a lot of the fruit on this, but I believe 107 proof is a great sweet spot for the 12." He mentioned the aroma of green apple peel, which was dead on.
• Fletcher said the 14-year smelled "like cigar covered in molasses." First time I've heard that description, and it was a good one. "The texture of it, some smoke, a leather quality, really, really well-aged American whiskey. As soon as I pop the cork on the bottle and get that waft, that smell of a barrel house ... that never gets old for me."
• Fletcher mentioned the 2025 release of the 14-year-old will see 24,000 bottles come to market (roughly 1,860 9-liter cases since these are 700ml bottles), and that it will become an annual release.
• The oldest whiskey aging at the distillery is right at 15 years old. As one might imagine, "The yield has been pretty poor when we start dumping these" old barrels, he said.
• When asked of the risk of aging to 18 and 21 years, he said, "That they would get out of balance. If we feel like we start to lose that in the product, that the age doesn't do it justice, we won't continue. ... But the 14 gives me great confidence in the direction we're going.
• "A four-year cycle (from 14-18) in American whiskey aging is massive. We have not done this in Lynchburg in any of our lifetimes."

OK, now for my notes on the 14-year-old. As Fletcher said, the nose is big on hard cherry candy and rich, well-managed alcohol. Dried fig and molasses mix in with saddle leather, pipe tobacco, flamed orange peel and bruleed sugar. Give it a short rest and you'll find toasted walnuts and chocolate-iced devil's food cake.

It's big on the palate without being a brute; as in none of the Coy Hill muscle or heat. I like those, too, but they have their place, and there's no place for that in this mature, balanced and well-mannered Tennessee whiskey. Dried grain and flowers hit center palate along with oak, bitter chocolate and black tea. It drinks well below its 126 proof, way below, in fact.

The finish is pleasantly drying and combines cinnamon with pastry baked just a little too long–a sometimes delicious accident. Your mouth will all but hum on its own minutes after the last sip.

BRAND NOTES

The Jack Daniel Distillery today announced the release of its Jack Daniel’s 14-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey, marking the first time since the early- to mid-1900s that Jack Daniel’s has offered an expression at this age. This year’s Aged Series also includes Jack Daniel’s 12-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey Batch 3 and 10-Year-Old Batch 4, the latest in the annual release that nods toward the history of the Jack Daniel Distillery.

“When we released our first Jack Daniel’s 10-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey a few years ago, we set out to honor the legacy of Jack Daniel himself and replicate the lineup of age-stated whiskeys available during his time,” said Chris Fletcher, master distiller at Jack Daniel Distillery. “This year’s releases build upon that as we re-introduce our new 14-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey, the oldest age-statement for Jack Daniel’s in the last 100 years or more. These whiskeys really showcase how a little extra time in our barrels is capable of producing something so special.”

Jack Daniel’s 14-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey, offered at 126.3 proof (63.15% ABV), begins with Jack Daniel’s classic Tennessee Whiskey mash bill of 80% corn, 12% malted barley, and 8% rye, is distilled in Lynchburg, Tennessee, and is mellowed drop by drop through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal, just like the classic Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey.

The additional years of aging for Jack Daniel’s 14-Year-Old Tennessee Whiskey bring forward notes of sweet bakery spices with layers of oak. The palate opens with cinnamon and creamy butterscotch balanced with rich leather that lingers into aged oak and pipe tobacco. 

Jack Daniel’s 12-Year Old Tennessee Whiskey Batch 3 is offered at 107 proof (53.5% ABV) and has sweet and creamy notes of pipe tobacco, seasoned oak, and butterscotch.

Jack Daniel’s 10-Year Old Tennessee Whiskey Batch 4 is offered at 97 proof (48.5% ABV) and is oak forward with layers of dark fruit and bittersweet cocoa.

Disclaimer: Bourbon & Banter received a sample of this product from the brand for review. We appreciate their willingness to allow us to review their products with no strings attached. Thank you.