Our Jack takes a crack at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery’s latest expression – ‘Tennessee Fire‘. Because that’s what we do!
Rating
Price
Circa £25
In A Nutshell
It certainly does what it says on the label. Cinnamon and fire and sweetness, but without the familiar Tennessee Whiskey flavours of the ‘Old No 7’. Most definitely a liqueur but one that might burn you.
Straight Outta Lynchburg
You are looking at the latest expression to emerge from legendary whiskey purveyor Jack Daniels. Launched in the UK in June, Tennessee Fire is a cinnamon infused, whiskey based liqueur which combines ‘JD’s’ much loved, ‘charcoal mellowed’ Old No.7 Tennessee whiskey and something they’re calling a ‘proprietary red hot cinnamon liquor’.
They’re describing the taste as ‘cinnamon heat’ and it comes in at around 35% ABV and £25 a bottle – which seems to be in keeping with their typical price points. Tennessee Fire follows JD’s first flavoured whiskey, Tennessee Honey, their first flavoured liqueur.
At the time of writing (July 2015) Tennessee Fire is available exclusively at Tesco – though it is obviously up for grabs from a couple of online retailers as well. It was released last year stateside and seems to have been doing pretty well since then.
For a little backstory – Jack Daniel Distillery is said to be the oldest distillery in the US, officially registered with the US government in 1866 by a guy called Lem Motlow (and there was everybody thinking the guy’s name would be Jack Daniels?). Their most popular offering is still the legendary ‘Old No. 7’ – much beloved of teenagers discovering the joys of binge drinking and far older/more distinguished people who savour whiskey for the taste of it.
I wonder what they’ll produce next. The flavoured liquors seem to be ‘on trend’ so my money is on one of those.
We Drink It, Stuff Happens
First Impression
Being attacked by cinnamon with sweet undertones – definite alcoholic evaporation singeing your face. This is the threat display of the Tennessee distillate.
Nose
Sweet rich cinnamon fire shooting right up your nose, you probably won’t detect any hint of the ‘Old No 7’ here. Cinnamon, sugared cherries, honey and heat. A ’mere’ 35% ABV with a kick to go with it. Plus a sour note which is not from the alcohol – but in conjunction with said alcohol takes the edge off of the sweetness.
There’s none of the vanilla you expect from stuff aged in oak, I think the cinnamon has steamrollered it down. A note of honey hides underneath but the cinnamon really reigns over this thing. There is also what feels like a sweet cherry note there – maybe maraschino?
Palette
First there is the sweetness, plenty of sweetness. It is not saccharine, by my standards. Then the cherry and cinnamon notes coming through, strongly. You can’t taste the caramel and vanilla of american oak that you might expect. Hold it too long in your mouth and it WILL burn you! Cinnamon on the back of the back and top of your throat on exhale, with some sugar on the tip of your tongue.
A small dram is quite refreshing and satisfying on this hot day, but would certainly get sickly after one too many. Someone else describes the taste as ‘christmassy’.
Finish
Sweet cherry honey warmth turns to some kind of cherry cordial cinnamon which migrates to the back of your throat and everybody has a good time. Fiery eventually becomes warming and the sweetness lingers. Tastes a little like some kind of cherry cordial, some minutes later.
When you exhale there’s a little cinnamon warmth coming out of your nose, but the predominant sensation is the sugar on your tongue. The cinnamon is characteristically ‘tingly’. After a while, the lingering sweet warmth starts to remind me of having consumed some sweet cordial – but with a little cinnamon every time you breathe out your nose. The finish is about average in length – with this residual sweetness being the last thing to go.
Verdict
Well, they set out to ‘do’ a cinnamon liqueur and by god they succeeded. put simply, it delivers on the promise – fire and cinnamon on the main part. In terms of ‘balance’ personally it feels like it has the right amount of cinnamon, too much sweetness, and not enough of the ‘Old No 7’ coming through. It’s not really subtle, but it’s not trying to be.
Not the kind of thing that you’d find yourself hammering back – ‘the fire’ should see to that. How did they maintain the sweetness and the alcoholic heat? I dunno – it’s quite a rare combination. That said, if you’ve ever uh… enjoyed ‘the cinnamon challenge’ you know that cinnamon can actually be pretty hot – so combined with the heat coming off of the alcohol, this is not an entirely ‘unnatural’ combination
I like cinnamon but I personally feel that cinnamon is a complimentary flavour, not working too well as the ‘predominant’. But this is just personal preference. I’m not sure how Tennessee Fire compares to its obvious competitor, Fireball, having never tried it – a friend who’s tasted both tells me that this one’s little less sweet and with more of a kick. Perhaps Tennessee Fire is a more ‘bitey’ alternative to Fireball?
Personally, i’d want to use it as a mixer with something a little more bitter (and perhaps a little less alcoholic!). If you’re more a fan of the straight whiskeys or bourbons and don’t much go for liqueurs, this might not be for you. But if you like honey JD and you like cinnamon flavoured stuff, try it.