Jack Daniel’s first rye whiskey under the Single Barrel Special Release Series is one of the best single-barrel ryes of the year, despite an incredibly high proof range and a relatively modest age statement. It’s also, somehow, an incredible deal.
The Single Barrel Special Release Series is not a particularly well-known collection in the whiskey world, but if you’ve had a few great bottles of Jack Daniel’s, you might know it for another name: Coy Hill. That’s the moniker that the first releases in this collection were released under in a nod to a collection of whiskey warehouses. Tanyard Hill is, unsurprisingly, an adjacent hill with its own warehouse. But that’s where these stories diverge.
Tanyard Hill’s four warehouses were built in the 1960s with seven floors of storage, where, according to Jack Daniel’s, the barrels experience the “deep winter and summer weather cycles of the hollow and resulting in a one-of-a-kind expression fit for the Jack Daniel’s Special Release series.” The barrels selected for 2025 came from Barrel House 1, which sits at the top of the hill. Barrels were filled in November of 2025, making this a 9-year-old whiskey.
In other words, these barrels sat elevated into the brutal Tennessee sun through nine summers, and sat exposed through the coldest parts of Tennessee winters. Those temperature fluctuations created tons of barrel interaction, leading to some impressively mature and flavorful whiskeys.
While Tanyard Hill Rye 2025 comes in just a little under 10 years of age, it drinks closer to 12 or 15. It’s dark, roasty, and full of a surprising red fruit and berry character. The single barrels vary, of course — one that I tasted in the mid-130 proof range was smoky and dominated by dry oaky spice, while the knee-liquifying 145.9 proof sample I tasted later was milk chocolatey with a fresh, minty spice and a few hints of pipe tobacco.
Because Tanyard Hill Rye is charcoal filtered before it enters the barrel, there are some ways in which this is a more filtered whiskey than some of the bottles claiming uncut, unfiltered status. And yet Jack Daniel’s continues to be perfectly sippable — even above 145 proof.
Is this sorcery, or charcoal filtering? Is this the advantage of a huge distillery, or the advantage of a warmer climate than the average Kentucky warehouse? Arguably, it’s neither. Jack Daniel’s rye distillation reflects just a fraction of their annual output, and while the warehousing location and aging progression of these barrels is carefully managed, it’s also just the
Recent years have shown the breadth of potential in Jack Daniel’s whiskey. Over the last decade we’ve gotten to taste Jack Daniel’s Bonded, Coy Hill and various other single barrels, as well as the age-stated 10, 12, and 14 bottles that show exactly how much range the Old No. 7 whiskeymakers truly possess.
These whiskeys, however, are more about showcasing the terroir of the Jack Daniel’s warehouses than anything else. “We’re fortunate to have barrel houses at so many unique locations,” said Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Christ Flecter, “that produce deep, rich, and complex whiskeys. Like Coy Hill was before, Tanyard Hill has been one of the hidden gems for the locals familiar with the distillery grounds.”
A word of warning: check the proof on the bottle before you head to the register. While samples were universally impressive, there’s absolutely a difference between the high and low ends of this collection’s barrel proof range, which reaches from 130.2 to 148.8 proof. At $80, though, it’s a steal compared with some of the other high proof/HAZMAT ryes on the market, like Thomas Handy, with a comparable depth of complexity.
Jack Daniel’s still carries a bit of a stigma within the world of whiskey aficionados — something that will continue to fade in the future. Until it does, though, you and I might as well continue to take advantage of the situation and stock up. If you haven’t had a bottle of Jack on your bar in a while, this is the one to change that. Whether you use this bottle to educate your friends is up to you.
G. Clay Whittaker is a Maxim contributor covering lifestyle, whiskey, cannabis and travel. His work has also appeared in Bon Appetit, Men’s Journal, Cigar Aficionado, Playboy and Esquire. Subscribe to his newsletter Drinks & Stuff for whiskey reviews and trends, perspectives on drinks, and stuff.
