American whiskey aficionados are forever clamoring for barrel-strength spirits. It’s not merely a matter of them showing off tolerance. These liquids tend to be fuller in flavor and “purer” in form, undiluted from their cask-contained slumber. But, yeah, to enjoy them, you do need to be able to tolerate the scorching heat of high-octane whiskey. Few offerings on shelves today are as high in heat or as tasty as the Coy Hill lineup from Jack Daniel’s. Now, there's a third addition to the three-year-old series.
Single Barrel Special Release Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 ranges between 122 to 137.5 proof, depending on the bottling you get your hands on. Originally launched in 2021, these limited-editions are plucked from a barrelhouse that sits at the highest elevation point on the grounds of the legendary distillery in Lynchburg, TN. There, at the top of the rickhouse, stifling humidity throughout prolonged summer months supercharges the aging whiskey with notes of charred oak.
The 2024 release features typical characteristics of classic Jack Daniel's. Threads of caramel, vanilla, and bananas foster are dialed up and compete amongst a swirl of berry compote, butterscotch, and burnt sugar. The rich sweetness subsides in the finish, where an unrelenting parade of baking spice and clove treads down the back of your tongue.
These complexities are all born of the same exact distillate that makes up the brand’s flagship. The mash bill was made of 80 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley, and eight percent rye. The liquid was then charcoal mellowed—as required of Tennessee whiskey—and entered into new, charred American white oak barrels in September of 2013. We could hardly believe that it began its life as the same juice, so we asked for professional verification.
“Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 is the same recipe as our Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey, but the unique elements, time, and mother nature have helped to craft a whiskey with an incredible range of flavors and proofs that would be impossible to replicate,” says Jack Daniel’s master distiller, Chris Fletcher. “This year’s release builds upon the mystique of the Coy Hill barrel houses that see such drastic temperature swings throughout the whiskey’s maturation.”
Those drastic swings actually make proof go up in the barrel. In cooler climates, such as Scotland's, the proof of whisky reduces steadily as it matures. But thanks to the heat and humidity southeastern U.S. summers, the obligatory evaporation of liquid through the casks—better known as the angels’ share—predominantly consists of water, not liquor.
Such a hot bottle is a rarity in the volunteer state. Any spirits ultimately labeled as Tennessee whiskey, bourbon, or rye, cannot have legally been entered into barrel above 125-proof. So anything that gets bottled above that point has the aforementioned evaporation to thank.
The new Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 is set to retail for $80 per 375ml bottle. But the last release from 2022—which included the highest-proof Jack Daniel’s liquid ever (a whopping 155.1)—is now fetching as much as $2,300 on secondary markets . So, yeah, this juice is red hot. Run, don’t walk, to your local liquor store before they burn through it all.
Related: Jack Daniel’s Heritage Barrel Is Helping Redefine Tennessee Whiskey
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