Tasting

Nose a Tennessee Whiskey for the first time, and you rarely get a hit of sharp alcohol. Maple charcoal strips away some of the young spirit's rough edges before it even reaches the barrel. You can taste it later: rounder, sweeter, with more caramel than a comparably young Kentucky bourbon.

Old No. 7 from Lynchburg is many people's first encounter with the category. On the nose, dried fruit, wood, and a light spiciness; on the palate, vanilla, wood, and dried fruit again; on the finish, dry and long.

Gentleman Jack takes the same spirit and sends it through charcoal a second time after maturation, right before bottling. That's unusual among American whiskeys. It makes it noticeably softer, with more caramel and vanilla and less of the spice still present in Old No. 7.

In Shelbyville, Uncle Nearest 1856 is made, named after Nathan "Nearest" Green, the man who taught Jack Daniel to distill. On the nose, toasted oak and honey, with a touch of pear. On the palate, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, and a caramel sweetness that ties it all together.

In the South, Tennessee Whiskey is often drunk neat or over a large ice cube, less often with a lot of water. For a first tasting, though, a small glass of still water on the side is enough. It opens up the nose without drowning the caramel notes, and shows whether a whiskey still holds its structure even at room temperature.