In the fall of 2019 rumors started swirling online of a new release available at the White Rabbit Bottleshop in Lynchburg, of a Before and After set. Two bottles of unmatured Old No. 7, one BEFORE Charcoal Mellowing and one AFTER Charcoal Mellowing, along with a small bottle of Hard Sugar Maple Charcoal in between the two bottles. The BEFORE bottle on the left, the AFTER on the right.
It ends up the package was exclusive to Tennessee, and could be found at a variety of locations around the state. I lined up a set with a local in Lynchburg, and planned to get it in the mail, trading for a Scenes of Lynchburg series bottle, but got cold feet before shipping and ended up committing to the other party that I would trade in person next time I make it to Lynchburg.
In November I made a trek south from St. Louis down to Memphis and picked up two packages of the Before and After set, maintaining my intention of getting the third set mentioned above.
The bottles and charcoal come in a black box, the bottles with a white label with black text. The bottles are 375ml, with whiskey aged only one day.
This set has a lot of writing on it, so I am not going to transcribe all of that writing this time around, but will include a couple of interesting bits.
Tasting Directions
1) Pour an ounce of our before charcoal mellowing whiskey into a tasking glass. Without mellowing, it’s nose has extra cereal notes and its taste is more harsh and oily in character.
2) Pour an ounce of our after charcoal mellowing whiskey into a second glass. Because this whiskey has been mellowed drop by drop, you’ll notice its nose and taste is smoother and cleaner. It is absent the grainy character of the before mellowing Jack Daniel’s.
One last thing, the bottle mentions a URL, jackdaniels.com/BEFORE-AFTER but as of December 28th, 2019, the URL only leads to a 404 page. (As of November 2023 the URL is working again)
Release: 2019
Proof: 80
Size: 375ml x2
Price: $30
