--- title: How Should ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ Be Defined? | TIME description: Jack Daniel’s is fighting a possible change to a year-old law that defines “Tennessee Whiskey” essentially according to the company’s process. canonical: https://time.com/video/hDRxC7EP/ og:title: How Should ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ Be Defined? og:description: Jack Daniel’s is fighting a possible change to a year-old law that defines “Tennessee Whiskey” essentially according to the company’s process. og:url: https://time.com/video/hDRxC7EP/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/hDRxC7EP/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Should ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ Be Defined? twitter:description: Jack Daniel’s is fighting a possible change to a year-old law that defines “Tennessee Whiskey” essentially according to the company’s process. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/hDRxC7EP/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # How Should ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ Be Defined? > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: How Should ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ Be Defined? [Watch (HLS stream): How Should ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ Be Defined?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hDRxC7EP.m3u8) (1:29)  _Published 2014-03-18. Jack Daniel’s is fighting a possible change to a year-old law that defines “Tennessee Whiskey” essentially according to the company’s process._ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:19 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Second Acts: Few Spirits Whiskey](/video/gaCszv9R/) ### Second Acts: Few Spirits Whiskey [Trailer: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot](/video/mJd33P56/) ### Trailer: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot [A Whiskey Shortage Could Be Looming](/video/Joy8iNbL/) ### A Whiskey Shortage Could Be Looming --- ## Transcript So what's the difference between whiskey and Tennessee whiskey? Apparently, a label that reads, Jack Daniel's. Charcoal mellow drop by drop for smooth sipping, the Tennessee way. Which is not the easy way. Jack Daniel's is fighting a possible change to a year- old law that defines Tennessee whiskey essentially according to the company's process. Tennessee law says Tennessee whiskey must be fermented in Tennessee. The fermented mash must be 51 % corn, aged in new, charred oak barrels, filtered through maple charcoal and bottled at more than 80 proof. Which is pretty much how Jack Daniels makes its stuff leading to complaints like this. The legislature in Tennessee has defined a monopoly. It has legislated a monopoly. Jack Daniels sells more than 90 % of Tennessee's whiskey and its history in the state goes back more than a century according to The Wall Street Journal. So it's probably no surprise that the company that produces it isn't interested in changing the law to redefine Tennessee whiskey. Its makers Brown- Forman in fact put out a pretty strongly worded statement warning that Tennessee whiskey was" under attack ." [ INAUDIBLE ] But not every makes of Tennessee whiskey agrees. UK company, [ INAUDIBLE ], whose George Dickel brand is the second most popular whiskey. A distant second, it's worth noting, is lobbying volunteer state lawmakers to change the rules. And accusing Brown- Forman of stifling competition and innovation. Tennessee lawmakers are divided, but will be weighing both sides in the whiskey war or words this week. 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