Jack Daniel's

Jack Daniel's is a brand of Tennessee whiskey and the top selling American whiskey in the world. It is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee, by the Jack Daniel Distillery, which has been owned by the Brown-Forman Corporation since 1956. Despite being the location of a major operational distillery, Jack Daniel's home county of Moore is a dry county, so the product is not available for consumption at stores or restaurants within the county.

The product meets the regulatory criteria for classification as a straight bourbon, though the company disavows this classification and markets it simply as Tennessee whiskey rather than as Tennessee bourbon. As defined in the North American Free Trade Agreement, Tennessee Whiskey is classified as a straight bourbon authorized to be produced in the state of Tennessee. Packaged in distinctive square bottles, a total of 11 million cases of the flagship "Black Label" product were sold in the company's fiscal year ended April 30, 2013.

Early history

Daniel

Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means, "God is my judge", and derives from two early biblical figures, primary among them Daniel from the Book of Daniel. It is a common given name for males, and is also used as a surname. It is also the basis for various derived given names and surnames.

Background

The name evolved into over 100 different spellings in countries around the world. Nicknames (Dan, Danny) are common in both English and Hebrew, although in some instances "Dan" may be a complete given name rather than a nickname. The name "Daniil" (Даниил) is common in Russia. Feminine versions (Danielle, Daniela, Daniella, Dani, Danitza) are prevalent as well. The Dutch names "Daan" and "Daniël" are also variations of Daniel. A related surname developed as a patronymic, Daniels. Other surnames derived from "Daniel" include McDaniel and Danielson.

In the United States, the U.S. Social Security Administration reports that Daniel has peaked as the fifth most popular name for newborns in 1985, 1990, 2007, and 2008. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that in the 2000 census, "Daniels" was the 182nd most common surname in the U.S., while "McDaniel" was ranked at 323, and "Daniel" (without a final "s") was ranked at 380.

Jack Daniel

Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel (c. January 1849 – October 10, 1911) was an American distiller and the founder of the Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distillery.

Biography

Jack was the youngest of ten children born to Calaway and Lucinda (née Cook) Daniel. Jack Daniel's paternal grandparents immigrated to America in the late 18th century. His grandfather Joseph "Job" Daniel was born in Wales, while his grandmother, Elizabeth Calaway, was born in Scotland. He was of Welsh, Scots-Irish and Scottish descent.

According to one source, he was born in January 1849, in or around Lynchburg, Tennessee. A town fire had destroyed the courthouse records, and conflicting dates on his and his mother's headstones have left his date of birth in question. His mother died shortly after his birth, most likely due to complications from the childbirth. On June 26, 1851, his father remarried and then had another three children with his stepmother Matilda Vanzant.

Jack was raised in the Primitive Baptist church.