On March 7, the Mountain West Whiskey Festival will welcome a guest who represents 156 years of Tennessee whiskey history in real time.
Jed Lirette, Senior Homeplace Ambassador for the Jack Daniel’s Distillery, will host a featured tasting built around some of the brand’s most limited and talked-about releases. For those attending, it won’t feel like a stiff seminar. It will feel like a conversation with someone who lives this story every day.
“I’m so pumped, man. I love being up there. Y’all are great people, man,” Lirette said about returning to the region.
From the U.S. Navy to Lynchburg
Long before he was leading VIP tastings and representing Jack Daniel’s around the country, Lirette spent 15 years in the U.S. Navy. He worked in numerous IT roles, including as a senior network engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense. His service took him to the UK, Dubai, Germany, Qatar and Afghanistan.
In 2015, he was hired as a tour guide at the distillery in Lynchburg. Not long after, he became an official whiskey taster, heading into the quality control lab every Friday morning to sample freshly mellowed new whiskey. By 2019, he had been named senior ambassador tour guide.
These days, his calendar includes press tours, commercial appearances, private barrel selections and national travel. Recently, that travel even included training staff aboard cruise ships.
“I know this sounds like a brag, but it’s not,” he said with a laugh. “It’s work.”
While on board, he promoted a barrel of whiskey that had been purchased, poured samples and walked guests through tasting techniques. “It’s just being an ambassador on board. And that was the reason I was there.”
What He’s Pouring on March 7
At Mountain West Whiskey Festival, Lirette will guide attendees through Jack Daniel’s 10, 12 and 14 Year expressions, along with the Heritage release and a high-proof rye called Tanyard Hill.
For anyone who has toured the distillery, the name Tanyard Hill may sound familiar. It is quite literally part of the property.
“When you get off the bus right across from the barrel house and start walking down to the rickyard, you’re standing on Tanyard Hill when you get off the bus for the tour,” Lirette explained.
For this particular release, barrelhouse 101 was selected and high-proof rye barrels were pulled.
“We pulled some very high proof rye, like some 136, 138. I think we got up to 140 something for some of that rye. And it’s good,” he said.
Rye naturally brings spice. At these proof points and with extended time in barrel, the profile develops additional depth.
“You’re going to get the spice, but it’s also going to come with some heightened barrel notes,” Lirette said. “The rye is already going to bring fruit. But now imagine dried or cooked fruits. There’s a depth to the taste. You’re also going to pick up some leather, some oak, some richness that the barrel’s going to lend to it.”
Availability remains tight.
“It’s limited,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for us to see what our whiskey can do, how far we can push it, what kind of flavors we can pull. And so it’s just a chance to have fun.”
Why the Heritage Expression Connects
Beyond Tanyard Hill and the age-stated releases, the Heritage expression continues to generate strong reactions. Much of that comes down to the barrel treatment.
“Imagine a marshmallow that you’re toasting or roasting over a campfire. You’re going to caramelize the sugar,” Lirette said. “It’s triple toasted, so imagine 30 minutes of going through that process.”
Instead of aggressive charring, the extended toasting deepens caramel, vanilla, butterscotch, toffee and brown sugar notes before a light char is applied.
Another technical factor plays a major role in flavor development.
“The actual fact that we put the whiskey in at 100 proof means we have more water in that barrel than a normal barrel that’s entered at 125,” he said. “That sugar is water soluble. So the more water we have in there, the more sugar we can dilute out of the wood and the sweeter front that whiskey is going to be.”
Each barrel still shows variation, since it remains a single barrel product, yet the method introduces recognizable layers that fans have responded to quickly.
The Message He Plans to Leave in the Room
Ultimately, Lirette’s focus during tastings is not limited to rare bottles.
“When you have people in a room like that and they’re there to get educated and to learn a little bit,” he said, “the same pride that goes into each one of the products that you just mentioned goes into our Old No. 7.”
He wants guests to understand that innovation does not replace tradition.
“Same families have been making that whiskey for 160 years. This is not done in some big factories somewhere where a machine is pumping out juice. It’s time, it’s effort. It’s everything from the farmer putting it in the ground as corn and us putting it in the barrel as moonshine.”
That perspective is what he brings to every event, whether it’s a cruise ship training session or a packed tasting room in Rapid City. On March 7, Mountain West Whiskey Festival attendees will have the chance to hear it directly from him.Tickets are available at mountainwestwhiskeyfestival.com
Disclosure: Mountain West Whiskey Festival is promoted or affiliated with the HomeSlice Group, the parent company of The Rapid City Post.
