However, like I said in a previous post, the hubby didn't want to taste any Jack. Luckily for us and the the teetotalers in the world, Jack Daniel Distillery offers Dry County Tours which basically the tour without the tasting at the end. They also offer several tasting tours. The tours used to be free but now they start at $15/adult. We bought our tickets ahead of time on line to guarantee the time slot we wanted to fit everything in.
We checked into our tour 30 minutes or so before hand like they require. Then we waited... and waited.. and waited. While we waited we checked out the few exhibits in the visitor center and browsed the Jack Store. The only thing you can buy at the gift shop is Jack Daniels Whiskey. You can get bottles engraved as well. If you are looking for other souvenirs, you need to hit up the General Store or official Jack Daniel's Store in the town square where you will get a free shot glass or two with a $10 purchase.
Finally they called our tour. They were several tours that were leaving around the same time. You had to make sure you went with the right group. A pre-tour photo was required. I am not sure where you could buy those pictures afterwards but I'm sure they were somewhere in the visitor center. Then we boarded a bus to take us to the beginning of the tour.
The entire tour is a walking. It does include hills and stairs. You start off learning the history of Jack Daniel and how he learned to make whiskey. You learn the history of the distillery as well.
The tour takes you to the cave where Jack first set up his first still and still has the ice cold natural spring water flowing through it which is still used to make Jack Daniel's today.
We saw Jack's office and learned how he eventually died. Jack and a safe got into a fight... Jack eventually succumbed to his death from the wounds his sustained in the fight.
The infamous safe
After the history lessons, we moved inside to the actual distillery buildings. We could take any pictures inside the buildings.. something about technology and alcohol fumes and not wanting to go boom. I suppose that would be a big liability.
I wish I got a picture of the hubby smelling the mash. Let's just say it will clear up your sinuses.
Our last stop was one of the many barrel houses on the property where we saw the whiskey aging in the barrels. Each barrel weighs about 500 pounds so it is not easy to sneak one out of there. The placement of the barrels in the barrel house determines the type of whiskey that is being made. It has to do with the heat in the barrel house and other factors.
It was a great tour. I recommend it to anyone passing through the area. The tour itself is about an hour and 15 minutes. I still wish the hubby wanted to do the tasting. That would have made a perfect day. Maybe one day I can convince him.
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