Jack Daniel's Celebrates 150 Years of Business

Started 150 years ago in a tiny town in Tennessee, Jack Daniels has grown into the No. 1-selling whiskey label in the world and one of the top-10 exports in its state. The distillery has endured sky-high liquor taxes and even prohibition. The president of Jack Daniel’s, Mark McCallum, said the brand  “means America around the world.”

The president of the company attributes much of the company’s success to where the whiskey is made.

“It’s that little piece of America that I think most people really seems to connect with. Jack Daniel’s means America around the world,” McCallum said.

Making eight different types of American whiskey, the company has become the fourth-largest spirits brand of any kind. According to Jack Daniel’s parent company, Brown-Forman, the brand’s best seller continues to be “Jack Daniel’s No. 7.” However, new creations are exceeding all of the company’s expectations. For example, “Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey” has become the second-largest-selling flavored whiskey in the world with nearly two-billion cases sold last year. Another of its recent creations is also helping boost the company’s bottom line, as “Tennessee Fire” sales topped one-million cases.

While whiskey sales around the globe are reaching new heights this year, Jack Daniel’s has recently spent more than $140 million on a distillery expansion. “Whiskey’s in great demand, as we said – around the world. So ya we’re expanding our capacity to keep up with that,” said McCallum.

The company also attracts nearly 300,000 visitors to its original Lynchburg, Tennessee facilities every year and employs 600 locals. Despite coming from a dry county, the Jack Daniels’ president said his employees are “pretty happy people.”