🥃 Lincoln County Process

The Lincoln County Process is the step of filtering new, unaged whiskey through a deep layer of sugar maple charcoal before it goes into barrels. Jack Daniel's, which uses it, says that the state of Tennessee recognizes it as the "Lincoln County Process" and that most people call it charcoal mellowing.

How it works. According to Jack Daniel's, the new spirit comes off the still at 140 proof (70% ABV) and is pumped into the top of vats ten feet tall filled with charcoal from hard sugar maple wood. It seeps through ten feet of tightly packed charcoal drop by drop, with gravity doing the work. The company says the charcoal holds back hard edges, unwanted oils and sharp notes, so it describes the step as subtractive.

Charcoal made on site. The distillery says it does not buy its charcoal. Sugar maple wood is stacked in ricks as high as six feet, doused with new spirit and burned, then put out with water. The charcoal is ground into pieces no bigger than a bean and packed by hand into the vats.

Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey. Jack Daniel's states that it follows the bourbon rules, with a mash of at least 51% corn (its own is 80%) and new charred American white oak barrels, and adds charcoal mellowing before the barrel. The company says this step is the reason its whiskey may be called Tennessee Whiskey.

History. According to the company, Jack Daniel did not invent charcoal mellowing: in the 1800s, distillers in Middle Tennessee, then partly Lincoln County, used charcoal as a local custom. It says Nathan "Nearest" Green, master distiller on Dan Call's farm, taught the young Jack Daniel the craft, and that Jack Daniel founded his own distillery in 1866.

Why this matters to you. Charcoal mellowing does not make whiskey weaker: Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is 40–45% ABV. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.