Jack Daniel's Recollection Jug

As said in the side-bar, I am a Jack Daniel's collector. Fell in love with the brand way back in 1986. The taste and the colorscheme of the label is what attracted me in the first place.

Back then I mainly drank the stuff. The thing that starting off the collection was the so called Riverboat Captain decanter. Went into the shop back then and saw this decanter way up on top of the shelf. Asked what it was, bought it and took it home.

Because I really fancied the decanter, I couldn't break it open, so it sat on the bookshelf for years. As time went by, some tins and other bottles were added to the shelf, but it was still just a small collection. Up until the internet really broke through and the first European Jack Daniels BBQ in 2008 was held.

I found out I wasn't the only one who had full bottles on the shelf, just to look at it. There were lots and lots of other JD collectors out there. So an avid collector was born.

Over the years I've gathered rare and regular items to the collection, bringing the collection where it stands today. And yes, before you wonder, there is still a few things I'd love to add.
The more I collected, the more I was fascinated by the history of the distillery.

For instance, did you know that when they wanted to celebrate the 150th birthday of Jack Daniels in 2000, they wanted to bring a special decanter on the market?

The distillery had some of these made up and had planned to bottle these to celebrate Mr. Jack's birthday but the cost to re-tool the bottling lines was just too much. Only a very few of these jugs got out to the public. This jug I'm showing here is in white lettering as there were an equal number in red lettering. There was at least four different versions made in two different colors.  There was a white version with large letters and a white version with smaller letters.  Both of these versions was also done in red. It was rumored that there was 12 of each kind.  After the promise of production was lost, most of them were destroyed, but a very limited number of them survived. This is a very rare bottle to say the least and it would have held one liter of 86 proof whiskey. To own one of these rare collectibles is a must for the true Jack Daniel collector. 

Every now and then one pops up on one of the auctionsites we know. And yes.....for crazy prices.
Hope I'll ever get the chance of owning one at reasonable price. Up till then, I must settle for pictures of it and share it with you through this blog. 

Spot the differences

Some differences documented