Jack Daniel's is a Tennessee whiskey distillery and brand known for its rectangular bottles and black label. Jack Daniel's is consumed in shots, neat, on the rocks, in mixed drinks (especially "Jack and Coke") and as an ingredient in several cocktails. It has been prominently featured in movies, songs, and even novels, and is strongly linked to rock and roll, American biker culture, country music and macho myths. The company, based in Lynchburg, Tennessee, has been owned by the Brown-Forman beverage company since 1957.

According to the Jack Daniel's web site, founder Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel was born in September 1850, although seemingly no one knows the exact date since the birth records were destroyed in a courthouse fire. If the 1850 date is correct, he may have become a licensed distiller at the age of 16, as the distillery claims a founding date of 1866. Other records list his birthdate as September 5, 1846, and in his 2004 biography Blood & Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel author Peter Krass maintains that land and deed records show the distillery was actually not founded until 1875. Daniel was one of thirteen children, of Irish / Scottish descent. Since Jack Daniel never married and did not have any children, he took his favorite nephew, Lem Motlow, under his wing. Lem had a head for numbers and was soon doing all of the distillery's bookkeeping. In 1907, due to failing health, Jack Daniel gave the distillery to his nephew. Jack later died from blood poisoning from an infection in 1911.

The infection allegedly began in one of his toes, which Daniel injured early one morning at work by kicking his safe in anger when he could not get it open (he was said to always have had trouble remembering the combination). This incident was the subject of a marketing poster used on the London Underground in January 2006, with the line: "Moral: Never go to work early." When the company was later incorporated, it was incorporated as "Jack Daniel Distillery, Lem Motlow, Prop., Inc." This has allowed the company to continue to include Lem Motlow, who died in 1947, in their marketing, as mentioning him in the advertising is technically just citing the full corporate name. Likewise, the advertisements continue to say that Lynchburg has only 361 people, while the current (2000 census) population is actually 5,740. This is allowable because the entire label was trademarked in the early 1960s when this figure was the actual population cited by the Census Bureau; changing the label would require applying for a new trademark or forfeiting trademark protection. However, the 361 figure is also used on their website, which has nothing to do with the old label trademark issue. It should be noted, however, that the census designation definition of the city of Lynchburg is the entire area of Moore County, as the county and city governments are consolidated; the actual built area of Lynchburg may still have a small population. Interestingly enough, Moore County, where the Jack Daniel's distillery is located, is one of the state's many dry counties. Therefore, while it is legal to distill the product within the county, it is illegal to purchase it there. However, a state law has provided one exception: a distillery may sell one commemorative product, regardless of county statutes. Jack Daniel's now sells 'Gentleman Jack', and 'Jack Daniel's Single Barrel' at the distillery's White Rabbit Bottle Shop.

The Story of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whisky began in 1866 when a 17-year old youth named Jack Daniel established America's oldest registered distillery. A dependable source of good water, he knew, was essential. So he set up his distillery by the Cave Spring just outside the little town of Lynchburg, which is in the middle part of Tennessee. The Cave Spring's water was cool, clear, and free of iron and other undesirable impurities which can ruin whiskey. It still supplies the water used to make Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey.

Mr Jack used only the finest grains to distil his whiskey. Then he slowly mellowed his whiskey through large vats filled with hard maple charcoal in order to make the whiskey smoother. (And that's the main difference between bourbon and Tennessee whiskey). Finally, the whiskey aged a good long time; it rested in new oak barrels stored in unheated warehouses, where the seasons could do their work and perfect the whiskey's rich colour and unique rare taste.