Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is Not Vegan Friendly

Company email: (October 2024)
"Jack Daniel's Country Cocktails are produced
Vegetarian and Vegan friendly."

Company Facebook post (January 2022)
"Jack Daniel's is made from 100% natural ingredients that consist of corn, rye, and barley malt, along with iron-free water that flows from the Distillery's cave spring. It is then mellowed through ten feet of sugar maple charcoal. As part of this charcoal mellowing process, a 14 inch wool pad is placed at the bottom of our mellowing vats to help keep the charcoal in the vats while allowing the whiskey to flow through. This pad does not alter the taste of our whiskey whatsoever. Some folks may consider this aspect of our process to be non-Vegan friendly, however, we understand the definition of Vegan-friendly is viewed differently by many people. For some of our friends, our product may not fall into their diet, but that would be their individual decision."

Company email (January 2022)
"Unfortunately, Jack Daniel's and its expressions are not vegan friendly due to the filtration process."

Facebook message (Janauary 2022)
"Unfortunately, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Apple isn't suitable for vegans. There are some processing steps involved and sugar used that means the product isn't vegan."

Amanda notes (March 2021)
"I emailed jack daniels to inquire about their jack fire being vegan friendly and they replied and said it’s not suitable for vegans, only vegetarians."

Company email (July 2018)
"Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, Tennessee Rye, Gentleman Jack and Single Barrel are all suitable for vegan diets. There is no wool or other animal by-products used in our process. We filter our whiskey through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal."

Update (July 2018)
We've received multiple reports from people who went on distillery tours where it was reported that their whiskeys are filtered through 2 feet of wool. We've sent an inquiry to the company for more information, but are listing JD as non-vegan until we hear back. [update: the company denies this practice, see above for more info]

Company email (Aug 2017)
"Regarding your question, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey is vegetarian and vegan-friendly. Every drop of Jack Daniel’s available anywhere in the world is made solely at our historic Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. It is made with natural ingredients that consist of corn, rye and barley malt, as well as the iron-free water that flows from the Distillery's cave spring.

"Our whiskey is matured in new, charred white oak barrels. We do not use any sort of sealants on our barrels. There are no additives to our whiskey and no animal products are used in the making or maturation."

Company email (July 2017)
"Regarding your question, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey is vegetarian and vegan-friendly. Every drop of Jack Daniel’s available anywhere in the world is made solely at our historic Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. It is made with natural ingredients that consist of corn, rye and barley malt, as well as the iron-free water that flows from the Distillery's cave spring.

"Our whiskey is matured in new, charred white oak barrels. We do not use any sort of sealants on our barrels. There are no additives to our whiskey and no animal products are used in the making or maturation."

Company email (May 2017) re: Tennessee Cider:
"We are pleased to confirm that Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Cider is suitable for vegan and vegetarian diets."

Company email (February 2016) re: Tennessee Fire:

"Regarding your question, we are happy to tell you that Jack Daniel's Fire contains no animal derived ingredients or by-products; and no animal derivatives including additives and processing aids are used during production. This product is suitable for vegan diets. This standard applies to any Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire produced or bottled at any facility worldwide."

Company email (January 2015):
"As for your question, Jack Daniel's Black Label, Gentleman Jack, and Jack Daniel's Single Barrel are all vegetarian and vegan-friendly. Our Black Label Tennessee Whiskey is made with natural ingredients that consist of corn, rye and barley malt, as well as the iron-free water that flows from the Distillery's cave spring. Our whiskey is then filtered through charcoal that we produce at the Distillery and is then matured in new, charred white oak barrels. We do not use any sort of sealants on our barrels.
Once our whiskey leaves it's barrel, it is bottled either as a single barrel in the case of Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Whiskey or after being married with several other batches of whiskey in the case of Jack Daniel's Black Label, Jack Daniel's Green Label, and Gentleman Jack. Gentleman Jack is charcoal mellowed one additional time as compared to Jack Daniel's Black and Green Labels.
There are no additives to our whiskies and no animal products are used in the making or maturation of any of our products. If you'd like a closer look at how we craft our whiskey, we hope you'll visit our website and take our virtual tour (located under the Distillery section.)
This would apply to all our whiskies and whiskey liqueurs with the exception of Jack Honey which contains actual honey. Our ready-to-drink malted products are vegetarian, but not vegan-friendly since some of them also contain honey and they are bottled using the same machines."

Note from Richard (December 2014):
"Not sure if this has been mentioned already but would avoid using Jack Daniels as they are a major sponsor of professional bull riding. Not the most vegan of sports I'm sure you'll agree.
http://www.pbr.com/en/bulls/profiles/a/jack-daniels-after-party-13405.aspx"

Company email (circa 2007)
"We use no animal by-products when making our Tennessee Whiskey, so it's perfectly OK for vegetarians to enjoy."

Editors note: JD supports rodeos...