When America turns 250, plenty of brands will raise a flag. Jack Daniel’s can raise a glass with a little more history behind it.
Officially registered in 1866, the Lynchburg, Tennessee, distillery has spent more than 160 years building one of the most recognizable American whiskey brands in the world. Its story runs through a small-town Tennessee hollow, the legacy of Nathan “Nearest” Green, generations of whiskey makers, military partnerships, motorcycle culture and a bottle that still carries the name of Jack Daniel.
For America 250, Jack Daniel’s is leaning into that history with a nationwide toast, a USO partnership and a reminder that the brand’s roots are tied to the same kind of independence, grit and ambition Americans love to celebrate.
Jack Daniel’s America 250 Toast Starts in Lynchburg
Less than 100 years after the Founding Fathers gathered in Philadelphia and signed the Declaration of Independence, one of America’s most iconic whiskey stories began on Reverend Dan Call’s farm in the hills of Lynchburg, Tennessee.
In 1864, a young Jack Daniel left home and worked for Call as a farmhand. One of his tasks was helping Nathan “Nearest” Green, an enslaved man and master whiskey maker, run the still. With Green as his mentor, Daniel learned the art of making whiskey through a charcoal mellowing process that evolved into Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey.
Two years later, Daniel established his own distillery, which became the first registered distillery in the United States, and created a brand emblematic of American pride and hard work.
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The Caretakers of Jack Daniel’s
Chris Fletcher is a native of Lynchburg and the master distiller for Jack Daniel’s today. He is one of only eight individuals to carry the title in the distillery’s 160-year history, but he’s not the first of his family to earn the honor.
Fletcher’s grandfather, the late Frank “Frog” Bobo, was the master distiller from 1966 to 1988. Fletcher grew up around his grandfather and other former master distillers, but he never thought about working with whiskey until he came back to the distillery for a summer job after college.
He took over as master distiller in 2020 but has worked in the whiskey industry in various roles for 25 years. Fletcher recognizes the significance of what it means to be the master distiller for Jack Daniel’s, but there’s no ego here. His grandfather wouldn’t stand for that.
“He would want me focused on the whiskey-making process day in and day out,” Fletcher says. “That’s the way he was, and that’s what I try to do.”
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While Fletcher makes the whiskey, Navy veteran Jed Lirette’s job is to talk about it. He became the senior brand ambassador for Jack Daniel’s following a 15-year military career that included intel work for the Department of Defense and three deployments to Afghanistan.
Lirette is from Louisiana but grew up in Lynchburg. Like Fletcher, he never considered a career at the distillery.
“When I joined the military, I thought I’d never move back to Tennessee,” Lirette says. “I could not have gone more polar opposite of the distilling world.”
In 2015, while in between jobs, Lirette signed up to be a tour guide at the distillery and fell in love with sharing the history and heritage of Jack Daniel’s.
After all, there’s 160 years’ worth of history to talk about. And with roughly 300,000 people touring the distillery each year, there are plenty of eager food-and-drink fans ready to listen.
“They’re looking for the history and the romance behind making the whiskey,” Lirette says. “I mean, we have 160 years of doing it, so there is quite a bit of history behind our brand.”
How Jack Daniel’s Balances History and Innovation
One of Fletcher’s strengths as the master distiller is his fresh approach to product innovation. He’s a key decision-maker in any new offering coming out of the distillery, but the work of the past is a major factor in what happens today.
When an innovative idea is proposed for a new whiskey, if it’s not something Fletcher feels his grandfather and even Jack Daniel himself would recognize and appreciate, it goes no further. That’s a rule everyone follows, including the marketing team, to blend the brand’s rich heritage with today’s concepts.
“Let’s take it and do it in a way that if Mr. Jack were still alive today, we believe this is how he would do it,” Fletcher says. “And the beauty of it is we’ve got the best team in the industry. We can tackle a lot of different things and do it in really unique ways that allow a lot of the expertise of whiskey making in Lynchburg to shine through in whatever new product we decide to offer.”
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Veterans, Motorcycles and Jack Daniel’s Tradition
Lirette is one of many veterans employed at the distillery, and that’s why partnerships with the United Service Organizations (USO) Toast to the Troops program, along with Operation Ride Home, which helps junior enlisted families travel home for the holidays, are especially meaningful.
It wasn’t until he was deployed to Afghanistan that Lirette realized the importance of USO programs.
“You want that small piece of home again when you’re out there,” he says. “The USO events, when they would fly in country music artists and Olympic athletes, it was that reminder of home. I’m very proud of the partnerships we have because it means a lot to those service members.”
Jack Daniel’s also has a lasting reputation with bikers, and from 2016 to 2023, the brand partnered with another American original, Indian Motorcycle, to create a custom bike that was sold to the public.
However, the biker connection doesn’t end there. For years, Jack Daniel’s has been a major partner of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, hosting events and barbecues. Lirette says the goal with Sturgis isn’t necessarily to sell whiskey, but rather to set up a place where people can stop by and take a break.
“It’s our opportunity to be with the customer, talk, and invite them back to Lynchburg, believe it or not,” he says. “Kind of give back to our customers and to bikers.”
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How Jack Daniel’s Is Celebrating America 250
The America 250 celebration will be a busy one for Jack Daniel’s. The brand will be a major presence in Nashville for the July 4 celebration, along with a “United We Toast” campaign through social media, bars and restaurants across the country. Part of the campaign, which is connected to the USO, invites people to scan a QR code and send messages of gratitude to deployed troops.
It’s only fitting that an iconic brand like Jack Daniel’s go big for America’s birthday.
In fact, Lirette believes the origin of Jack Daniel’s and the founding of America echo one another. The whiskey that became an iconic brand traces its roots to the still on Reverend Call’s farm, while America began as an ambitious idea and grew into a nation that has lasted for 250 years.
“Just like our whiskey, it was grassroots, it was hard work, it was dedication to an idea,” Lirette says. “A young man in the backwaters of a small town in Tennessee had an idea, and it became this. It’s the American dream, isn’t it?”
How to Make a Lynchburg Lemonade
Beat the summer heat and celebrate America’s 250th birthday with a drink straight from the country’s oldest registered distillery. A refreshing blend of citrus and sour backed with the smooth taste of Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7, Lynchburg Lemonade is a simple, smooth-sipping twist on the classic sweet-and-sour cocktail.
Ingredients:
- 1 oz. Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7
- 1 oz. Triple Sec
- 0.75 oz. lemon juice
- 0.25 oz. simple syrup
- 4 oz. lemon-lime soda
Instructions:
- Fill a highball glass three-quarters full with cubed ice
- Pour Old No. 7 over ice
- Add remaining ingredients and stir
- Garnish with a lemon wedge