Jack Daniel’s Dials Up The Proof With Limited-Edition High Angel’s Share Whiskey

(Photo: Jack Daniel’s)

Jack Daniel’s is expanding its Distillery Series with a limited-edition expression aged in its most coveted barrelhouses.

On Tuesday, the Tennessee-based distiller unveiled its batch proof High Angel’s Share Whiskey, laid to rest in 2016 on the top floors of Coy Hill. The Coy Hill warehouses are situated at the highest point of the Jack Daniel’s property in Lynchburg and have yielded many of the brand’s most sought-after releases over the past few years. Depending on the specific proof and rarity, some of these bottles command prices as high as $4,000 on the resale market.

Jack Daniel’s latest is doing things a little differently. The release is a celebration of the angel’s share, an industry term referring to the amount of liquid that evaporates from barrels each year due to ambient heat and temperature fluctuations.

According to the team, the angel’s share in these barrels resulted in a uniquely rich concentration of flavors. Official tasting notes mention brown sugar, banana nut bread and a hint of maple syrup, followed by a drawn-out, oaky finish. The expression was selected by Jack Daniel’s Whiskey Taster Dale McGee and is bottled at a batch proof of 138.4, clocking in just a few notches shy of a flight ban-worthy hazmat proof. The mashbill, meanwhile, is the same as ever, consisting of 80% corn, 12% malted barley and 8% rye.

Distillery Series #17 is now available exclusively in Tennessee at the White Rabbit Bottle Shop at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery. Bottles are only available in 375-milliliter formats, each hosting a suggested retail price of $44.75.

“This release is a perfect example of what happens when we let nature take the lead,” Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Chris Fletcher remarked in a news release. “By resting these barrels on the very top floor of our Coy Hill barrelhouse, the intense heat increased the angel’s share over the years. What’s left behind in the wood is a beautifully concentrated profile that showcases a whole different side of our traditional Tennessee Whiskey.”

Time will tell how the release fits into the Jack Daniel’s pantheon. In 2018, we had a chance to taste the distiller’s previous angel’s share bottling, and found it to be wildly rich in roasted peanut and banana flavors. That whiskey predated the Coy Hill series by around three years and was bottled at a modest 107 proof — modest compared to Jack Daniel’s latest, that is.