The maker of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is celebrating the opening of a new cooperage in Alabama to supply its distillery with the American white oak barrels that are toasted and charred to give the spirit its distinctive flavor and color.
The facility located in Trinity, Alabama, is about 60 miles southwest of the Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee.
Within the next few weeks, the cooperage is expected to make about 700 barrels per day out of wood from nearby stave mills owned by the company. It is projected to employ more than 200 workers when it reaches full capacity.
Under a Tennessee law enacted last year, distillers must age their sprits in unused American oak barrels if they want to label their product Tennessee whiskey.