(Photo) Jack Daniel Statue.

Piece 1: Jack Daniel’s Distillery Tour. Located about a 1.5-hour drive southeast of Nashville in Lynchburg TN is the Jack Daniel’s Whiskey Distillery (182 Lynchburg Highway).

Upon arriving at the distillery’s visitor center, you will be greeted by a large Dawn Redwood tree near the entrance. This ornamental conifer is a very distinctive and beautiful part of the center’s landscape.

Inside the building are photos, artifacts, and exhibits that provide a helpful introduction to the history of the business and key people involved.

The process of creating Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey is covered in some detail during the tour.

The whiskey mash is predominantly corn with some barley and rye added in for “spice and smoothness”. We got to walk past a couple of open vats of fermenting mash; just a whiff will make your head spin a little.

After running it through stills to extract the alcohol, the mash is fed to cows…very happy cows.

The alcohol is then filtered through flavor-mellowing charcoal, made on-site from burning pallets of hard sugar maple. Our guide told us to sniff (with our mouths open) the top of a filtering container while she rattled the lid; it was like getting a sip of whiskey.

The finished product is then stored in white oak barrels that have been charred on the inside to release natural sugars in the wood, which further flavors the whiskey during its aging (minimum of four years).

Jack Daniel selected the Lynchburg production site because of its access to Cave Spring Hollow, a plentiful source of pure (iron free) spring water.

Our tour concluded in the tasting room, where we sampled six of the company’s whiskey products.

We bought a bottle of the Tennessee Fire (a blend of cinnamon liqueur and Old Number 7); pretty good in a cup of egg nog.

Miss Mary Bobo’s Restaurant

Piece 2: Miss Mary Bobo’s Restaurant. A half mile from the distillery visitor center is Miss Mary Bobo’s (295 Main Street), a family-style restaurant situated in an old pre-Civil War boarding house.

We sat with a group around a large round table with a revolving center (commonly called a “Lazy Susan”) in a room with a brick floor, brick walls, and a fireplace for cooking (it was the original kitchen of the house).

A table host joined us and shared some history about the building, the founding proprietress, and her family.

Platters of food made from Miss Bobo’s recipes were positioned on the Lazy Susan and we all filled our plates as it turned.

Our meal featured southern fried chicken, meatloaf, fried okra, roasted potatoes, a corn salad, cabbage casserole, corn muffins, and spiced apples with Jack Daniel’s whiskey added. Dessert was a delicious slice of buttermilk pie.

Popular place; reservations are recommended.

Belle Chèvre in Elkmont AL

Piece 3: Belle Chèvre Goat Cheese Shop & Tasting Room. Located about an hour drive southwest of Lynchburg TN in Elkmont AL is the Belle Chèvre Goat Cheese Shop (18849 Upper Fort Hampton Road).

Based in a modified military Quonset hut, the business uses premium goat cheese to make a variety of flavorful spreads.

We were able to watch production workers make a batch of the pumpkin spice, and after sampling some in the tasting room we bought a container of it. In fact, we bought a container of every flavor of spread they made there.

The stuff is great on crackers, raw vegetables, or just by the spoonful.

NOW…READY TO START PLANNING YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE?

3 Piece Trips recommends TripAdvisor as an excellent travel planning tool. Also, TripAdvisor offers great deals on highly rated and positively reviewed hotels. Just CLICK HERE to access and explore the TripAdvisor site.