Town fights back against strict Tennessee whiskey laws endorsed by Jack Daniel’s

Town fights back against strict Tennessee whiskey laws endorsed by Jack Daniel’s

Whiskey giant Jack Daniel's is fighting to prevent small-time distillers from entering the market by using a law that requires that a very specific process be followed to be called Tennessee Whiskey.

The tiny town of Trimble situated in northwestern Tennessee is waging a pitched battle with the state of Tennessee — specifically, trying to roll back a strict and some say unfair law on how spirits must be made to be marketed as “Tennessee Whiskey.”

Distillers Michael Ballard and Jesse James Dupree are at the center of this effort, and the powerful Koch brothers are reportedly on their side, boasting the kind of political muscle that can make pretty much anything happen — especially a law that might repeal restrictions that are “just hindering us,” Ballard said according to an Associated Press report.

Ballard insists he’s trying to “get this town back on the map,” and has built his Full Throttle distillery in a building that once housed the historic town’s cotton gin, according to the report.

He runs the Full Throttle Saloon all the way out in Sturgis, South Dakota, a popular spot for bikers. He wants to bring that biker atmosphere to his hometown in Tennessee, hoping to not only lead a revival in its distillery culture but also create a place in Tennessee that could be a party atmosphere with hot rods and live concerts.

His business partner, Dupree, plans to build his own distillery nearby, where he’ll make Jesse James Tennessee Whiskey.

But the men find all that will be easier said than done: Jack Daniel’s convinced lawmakers not to repeal a Tennessee whiskey statute in 2013. A mega-force in the world of whiskey, Jack Daniel’s doesn’t appear to be interested in competition, even from a couple of small-timers.

Dupree has had to spend a year dormant because of the whiskey law, which states that spirits must be filtered through charcoal and stored in unused oak barrels in order to be properly labeled as Tennessee whiskey, something that Jack Daniel’s says protects the name of Tennessee whiskey but something that Ballard and Dupree argue that it’s a sham that doesn’t guarantee the whiskey will be any good.

There’s hope they could prove the law is unconstitutional. The state’s attorney general recently found such an exemption for a small whiskey maker, a legal opinion that could lead to the law being thrown out. But Jack Daniel’s expects to fight to protect the law, and it will be a pitched battle that could take years.

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