Bedford County Post

34 —Summer Local Living May 2024 NATHAN HAVENNER Contributor V isitors to the sprawling Jack Daniel Distillery campus in historic Lynch- burg, Tennessee can chose from sev- eral different tours and experiences when visiting “The House that Jack Built.” How- ever the newest addition to this lineup is its Bonded Tour. Senior Homeplace Ambassador and Mas- ter Taster Jed Lirette said the Bonded Tour has only been available to the public for about one-year. While all tours of the distillery located at 280 Lynchburg Highway begin at the Jack Daniel Visitors Center, that is where the Bonded Tour begins to veer off from the more traditional experiences offered such as the Flight of Jack Tour. “How it is different from the normal or average experience that you would have here is that you would be on a private tour,” Lirette said. “I know the max guest experi- ence would be eight people, so it would be a very small and intimate group.” After setting off on their tour, the first stop for guests will be Barrelhouse 104. Built in the 1950s, it is one of the 96 active barrelhouses spread across the Jack Daniel’s property. Coming in at seven stories high, No. 104 can hold 20,000 barrels of whiskey at any one time. Lirette said stepping into that barrel- house is not only a learning experience for guests, but a sensory one as well. “When you walk inside that seven-story barrelhouse, you get that oak obviously, the whiskey obviously, but it is that smell of old, you can tell this has been here a while so you have that experience,” he said. After touring the barrelhouse, the next stop on the Bonded Tour is the distillery rickyard, where the charcoal used in its iconic charcoal mellowing process is made. “At that we would start point talking about where Jack learned to make whiskey while we are walking down to the rickyard,” Lirette said. While other Jack Daniel’s tour options take visitors to the rickyard, those on the Bonded Tour get a little different experience. “We talk a little more in depth about why charcoal is so important and the aspects of what it does to our whisky and why it sepa- rates us, why it makes us unique and differ- ent,” Lirette said. Another highlight on the Bonded Tour is a stop at the grinding room, all the Jack Daniel’s charcoal is ground, and where ce- lebrity visitors sign their autograph on the wall. Lirette said another difference with the Jack Daniel’s offering exclusive Bonded Tour