Jack Daniels v's Jim Beam

ro1798

Does any one drink either and would they have a preference. i started out on jack then started to go to the dark side with jim beam.. it is a fruitier taste i think... but as i am not alllowed drink either any more i dont have the pleasure of them now..

so what do people think of these 2 infamous whiskey's

ronan

The Sweeper

I prefer Jim Beam.


....ahahahaahahahaaha.

No serioulsy, obviously it's JD for me all the way. I think Jim Beam isn't as sweet though, and has more 'classic whisky' undertones than JD, which is all bourbon.

ro1798

most people just go for the name with jack daniels with all the cool advertising and product placement in films etc. but jim beam i think wins hands down. jack is to harsh, not a sipping whisky....

not even going to bring in the other whiskey southern comfort... which does not even rate on the scale..

rubadub

infamous??
any whiskey expert would tell you JB

The Sweeper

Rubadub, the whole point of appreciating something for how it tastes is that you appreciate it for how it tastes. Therefore, you don't appreciate it for how other people say it tastes. So I'd ignore a whiskey expert trying to tell me that one bourbon tastes nicer than another.

And ro1798, Southern Comfort is a liqueur - it's bourbon and peach - so it doesn't really compare to straight bourbon.

For bourbon preference, I'll always go for Jack Daniels or Makers Mark. I'll drink Wild Turkey or Jim Beam as an alternative. There are plenty of other bourbons out there that I'd like to try. I like bourbons because I like to mix them with a softdrink, creating a long drink with, frankly, fewer calories than beer (because drinking beer would always be my first love if it didn't give me such a damn fat belly). The sweeter bourbons, for me JD or Makers Mark, mix better with a diet softdrink like coke or lemonade.

I prefer to drink good whisky straight up or with a glass of water.

Pongo

If I may be allowed to be a pedantic pain in the arse for a moment, Jack Daniel's isn't a Bourbon. Bourbon is made only in Kentucky, Jack Daniel's is made in Tenessee. Check out the label, the word 'Bourbon' isn't on it.
Would have to vote for Jack myself, but if you really want to treat yourself I recommend Woodford Reserve...

Edit: For double jeopardy where is Southern Comfort made? Kentucky? Wrong. If you buy it here that is. Southern Comfort bought in Ireland and most of Europe is made in:Clondalkin, Dublin 22. It used to actually say it on the label up to a couple of years ago, now they've just changed it to 'Produced in Ireland'.

DrIndy

The man is right, like champagne, bourbon is only a bourbon if its from the state of kentucky. Hence JD is a Whiskey as its from the Honky-Tonk state of Tennessee!

Does it matter? No - its just a name and what distinguishes American Whiskey/bourbon is its distilled once and stored in fresh oak barrels. Hence they have a rougher taste and harder on the palate than Irish or Scotch. However, some people prefer that to the smooth palate of Irish Whiskey. I like both - but depending on the circumstances.

The Sweeper

Yeah this is true, to be precise Jack Daniels is a sour mash whiskey which is not technically a bourbon because it goes through the Lincoln County Process which involves filtering through charcoal.

Bourbon needs to be a minimum of 51% corn (maize) in the grain used in distilling. Tennessee whiskey, which JD is, is made with a similar mash ratio to bourbon, but then goes through the Lincoln County Process.

Then again I know plenty of people who'll use the word 'scotch' to describe anything distilled that's amber in colour.

But yes, DrIndy, just like champagne. ...sparkling wine anyone? (And have you ever noticed how 'sparkling wine' is mocked as a cheap substitute for champagne?)

Airblazer

I loved JD until I realised that it made me do crazy things like finding 15 stone women attrative..after one such episode i thought to myself..time to quit JD and find something milder and a lot less powerful..reason JD is so harsh is because it's potatoe based..

dogg_r_69

Think I'd have to say JD Drank Jim Beam when I was in Germany a few times Never really liked it for some reason Prefere the Irish whiskey's to either

peterk19

Gotta go with Good O'l Jim Beam Deffo my choice although i'll drink whatever is there and like Airblazer it makes me do crazy things but i dont remember the 15 stone women part but i didnt ask them to jump on a scales so they may well have been hiding it well

ro1798

i think these american whiskey's make us do crazy things yes????

Zaph

Given the choice between JD and JB, I'll stick to my Wild Turkey, thank you very much. JD is a little too sweet for my taste, so if there's no Wild Turkey I'd go for Jim Beam ahead of JD.

I have in my possession a nice little stash of small batch and rare(ish) bourbons, all interesting in their own way. Pride of place goes to Bookers from the Jim Beam distillery, straight from the barrel to the bottle, all 63% alcohol of it. It's surprisingly smooth for such a strong spirit and I'd definitely recommend any bourbon lovers to give it a go if you get the chance.

rubadub

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

Rubadub, the whole point of appreciating something for how it tastes is that you appreciate it for how it tastes. Therefore, you don't appreciate it for how other people say it tastes. So I'd ignore a whiskey expert trying to tell me that one bourbon tastes nicer than another.

Fair enough, I am wondering what the point of this thread is so, asking people which they like more, if they should then be ignored.
I am not a whiskey drinker but am a member of a few distilling forums so was just offering general opinions rather than my own. Many seem to try and emulate Makers Mark, if they make whiskey that ends up like JD they have done something wrong and get disappointed!
JD has this rock n roll image, slash drinking bottles a day etc. Why does it cost so much? the fancy ads, just like budweiser and ipods.

The Sweeper

rubadub wrote:

Fair enough, I am wondering what the point of this thread is so, asking people which they like more, if they should then be ignored.

You said "any whiskey expert would tell you JB"

I'm saying you shouldn't allow other people to decide what you should prefer yourself. QED ignore the expert and decide yourself.

Jack Daniels has been blacklisted recently by a lot of 'hard core' drinkers because of changes to its proof. Doesn't bother me, I still like it, I still drink it. I'm not going to stop drinking something I like when the distillery makes a change to the recipe that I don't believe I can detect in the taste of the drink.

That's my point. Your decision, your choice, your own taste. There's a difference between educating your palette to discern different flavours, as somelliers do and deciding what you like or don't based on that, and deciding you do or don't like a drink because experts say it sucks.

SouperComputer

on the rocks: JB
Mixed: JD


both are yum though

rubadub

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

I'm saying you shouldn't allow other people to decide what you should prefer yourself. QED ignore the expert and decide yourself.

I was saying that is fair enough.
the OP said "so what do people think of these 2 infamous whiskey's"
I am just wondering if you think this thread is pointless if you personally think peoples opinions dont matter which is better.

did they drop the proof below 40%, was it 40% before or was it more?
Gordons gin lost huge sales when they dropped from 40 to 37.5%, I think 37.5% puts it in a lower tax bracket or something. I can tell the difference between 40 and 37.5, I dont give a damn if mixed (cant tell) but straight 37.5 vodka has very little bit. I am always convinced some bastard watered it down on me, have had to get the alcoholometer out a few times to be sure.
most stoli and smirnoff red is 37.5 here, you can still get the 40 in duty free though.

440Hz

JD yum yum. Been drinking it forever. I get fierce funny looks when I order it at 8pm or earlier though! It's all I drink, but girls on JD get funny looks.

Re JD versus Jim. well if I was drinking it straight I'd go with Jim cos its smoother, but other than that nothing beats Jack. (I wldnt say no to either at the mo tho, tough day)

The Sweeper

I believe the Jack Daniels proof change was from from 86% to 80%, so from 43% ABV to 40% ABV - but I'm open to argument on that.

Bruce Fan

I love JD and JB. Bourbon/Sour Mash whiskey is my fave choice when I'm out on the raz.
JD just about shades it for me, but If I was choosing my fave I'd have to go with Wild Turkey. A friend recommended it to me a while back & I've been on that ever since. I find it a bit easier on the old noggin' the next morning too.

Having said that, I did win a nice 20GB iPod courtesy of the nice people at Jim Beam (thanks to a bar tending competition!) but prefer JD/Wild Turkey !

Blisterman

I don't really like Whiskey. If I had to choose, I'd get Jack Daniels.

Bruce Fan

Wild Turkey is a bourbon or sour mash whiskey or what ever the f*&$ ya call it, like JD and JB.

amp

My top five whiskeys:

1. Ardbeg 17 year old single malt (not the ten year old, tastes like hosipital)
2. Jack Daniels
3. Black Bush 12 year old single
4. Canadian Club
5. Wild Turkey

I wasn't aware that they'd reduced the proof on JD, hadn't actually noticed any difference in taste.

In my opinion if it tastes like a bourbon and made like a bourbon then it's a bourbon. We call vacuum cleaners hoovers even if they weren't made by Hoover. The only exception to this is people who care more about the image they project than the taste of what they're drinking.

califano

Jim Beam kicks Jack Daniels ass.

1. Jim Beam
2.Canadian Club

Ginger

Jack Daniels

Specifically... Single Barrell Single Malt variety

I have tried all the different JDs you can get and both the black and white labels of So Co (50% SoCo with Lime.. extreme hangover!)

Do like Jim Beam as well, tho after been VIPs at the Jim Beam FHM Bikini Comp in Auckland, I cant really touch it anymore (way too many freebies mixed with bikinis!)

technobob

amp wrote:

My top five whiskeys:

1. Ardbeg 17 year old single malt

ah after my own heart
ardbeg really is a fantastic single malt along acourse with Laphraoig and Glenmorangie.

then Canadian Club and soda and Jim Beam,(was buying litre bottles for €9 in Spain last year,ffs)

always bothers me when people call southern comfort a whiskey,
how can they call that taste a whiskey, and cant people read bottles?
there is a big Liquer printed on the front of the bottle!!

technobob

Bruce Fan wrote:

Wild Turkey is a bourbon or sour mash whiskey or what ever the f*&$ ya call it, like JD and JB.

so is a Rioja the same as a cab sav or a merlot?

no

thats fuzzy logic

Karl Hungus

Jack Daniels is like the Budweiser of whiskeys in my estimation. Had some Jim Beam on a recent pub crawl, and while it certainly wouldn't be my thing at all, I'd take that over JD if there was nothing else going.

Jameson would be the usual on a nights out, or sometimes Bushmills if there's any going. Middleton on a special occaision, because that stuff is just outright gorgeous!

The Sweeper

Hmmm - interesting that you describe Jack Daniels as the Budweiser of Whiskey. I wouldn't really think of Jack Daniels and Whisky in the same category at all - I know I should, but it doesn't happen. I sort of look at it like fruit - it's like saying that mangoes are piss poor fruit and are nothing compared to bananas... it doesn't make sense because eh... well it just doesn't...

I would never compare Jack Daniels to something like Lagavulin. It just wouldn't happen. I'd be as likely to compare it to Tia Maria. Two different things. I think bourbons, sourmashes and ryes are completely different to a single malt.

Karl Hungus

Well, it is a sour mash whiskey. I'd agree it's a totally different thing to a single malt, but it all falls under the same category, just in the same way Budweiser is nearly incomparable to Franziskaner, they both fall under the beer family, although some would argue Budweiser simply doesn't constitute a beer, and I'd probably agree, but it's not really worth getting caught up over tbh.

WhiteWashMan

Karl Hungus wrote:

Well, it is a sour mash whiskey. I'd agree it's a totally different thing to a single malt, but it all falls under the same category, just in the same way Budweiser is nearly incomparable to Franziskaner, they both fall under the beer family, although some would argue Budweiser simply doesn't constitute a beer, and I'd probably agree, but it's not really worth getting caught up over tbh.

actually, id say comparing the likes of single malt and sourmash whiskeys, is much like comparing ale and larger.

two completely different things. or even 4 completely different things.

and does southern comfort come under the heading of 'whiskey' or 'Liqueur'?

and they all taste crap to me.

Karl Hungus

WhiteWashMan wrote:

and they all taste crap to me.

Philistine!

WhiteWashMan

Karl Hungus wrote:

Philistine!

ok, ok, ok.

they are all exceedingly nice, they just make me wretch and vomit whenever i even smell them

but if i can manage to control the gag reflex, and not taste them, and then control my stomach enough to not automatically regurgitate them after approximately 3 seconds, whiskey is possibly my favourite drink. right after tequilla and neat vodka !


of course, if tis disguised ina cocktail, now thats something completely different!

Karl Hungus

WhiteWashMan wrote:

they just make me wretch and vomit whenever i even smell them

That's good to know if I'm ever buying you a drink Eamo.

WhiteWashMan

just give me the money, and i'll go to the bar thank you

technobob

WhiteWashMan wrote:

and does southern comfort come under the heading of 'whiskey' or 'Liqueur'?

its a liqueur

PJG

1 JB
2 Makers Mark (never seen it in an Irish pub). Have the pleasure of a bottle recently brought back form the states.
3 JD



Had a bottle of 8 year old JB soem time ago, it was an unreal drink, made for sipping, no need for a mixer.

WhiteWashMan

technobob wrote:

its a liqueur

i know its a liqueur