Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/735312
42 / the tasting panel / october 2016 ON THE ROAD WITH JACK shift has occurred in the restaurant and bar industry over the past few years: No longer do ingredients stand alone on a menu; they sit beside their producer and hometown, since customers want to be connected to what they consume. It's about the passion of the creators and the story of each ingredient's production. While a global brand, Jack Daniel's fits into this movement because it has never lost its sense of place—it's not just whiskey, it's Tennessee whiskey—nor did it compromise on its quality as it grew into the distillery it is today. The compelling story of Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel learning to distill from a preacher named Dan Call and an enslaved man named Nearis Green as a boy and the following 150 years only reinforce its place at this current table. The versatility of Jack Daniel's is astounding: It can accompany local products from just about anywhere on the globe. Vincenzo Marianella—a longtime friend of Jack Daniel's Brand Ambassador, Eric "ET" Tecosky (so long, in fact, neither can remember exactly when or where they met)—proved this point by bringing grappa and amaro from his home region in Italy and mixing them with Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Select into a beautiful concoction. L.A. BARTENDERS SHOW HOW JACK DANIEL'S PAIRS PERFECTLY WITH HOMEGROWN INGREDIENTS by Emily Coleman PHOTO: CAL BINGHAM A Sense of Place Vincenzo Marianella of Copa d' Oro in Santa Monica, CA and Jack Daniel's Brand Ambassador Eric "ET" Tecosky. A few of the ice offerings from L.A.'s Penny Pound Ice.