Cave Spring and the Lincoln County Process
Near Lynchburg, Tennessee
The whiskey that Jack Daniel's makes starts with water from a specific spring in the hollow south of Lynchburg. Cave Spring flows cold and clear out of the limestone bedrock at a steady cool temperature year-round. The limestone filters the water naturally, removing iron, which matters because iron can discolor whiskey and alter its flavor.
The spring stays cold enough to help control the fermentation process. The company, which dates its founding to eighteen sixty-six, has long credited this hollow's water. What makes Tennessee whiskey distinct from Kentucky bourbon is not the corn base, not the barrel size, and not the distillation method itself.
It is a step that happens before the whiskey goes into the barrel. The new spirit is filtered slowly through a thick layer of charcoal made from sugar maple wood, dripping through the charcoal at its own pace. The charcoal mellows the whiskey, removing harsh compounds that give raw spirit its bite, and imparts a faint sweetness.
This is called the Lincoln County Process, named for the county where Jack Daniel originally operated his still. In eighteen seventy one, the county line was redrawn and the distillery ended up in what became Moore County, so the process has been misnamed by geography for more than a hundred and fifty years. But the name remained, and the process remained, and the whiskey that emerges from the charcoal and then spends years in new charred white oak barrels is what goes into every bottle that carries Jack Daniel's name.
