Jack Daniel's denies any water woes

The story has been making the rounds for more than a month: Jack Daniel's water supply is endangered because of an ongoing drought, so whiskey production may be adversely affected.

Not so, says Phil Lynch, director of corporate communications for parent Brown-Forman, headquartered in Louisville, KY.

"We've been trying to get the correct information out ever since that story popped up," Lynch told me today.

He said a Nashville television station, seeking to report on the impact on businesses of an ongoing drought, visited B-F's Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg, TN, to check out Cave Spring (seen here).

"Our people there explained that Cave Spring, which is our water source, was running as strong as ever and that we really weren't being affected by the drought," Lynch said. "The TV reporter then asked what would happen if the spring ran dry.

"Our man there made the mistake of answering a 'What if' question. He answered the hypothetical by saying that if Cave Spring ever did run dry, we'd probably not make any whiskey. He should have simply explained that we've never had a problem with the spring, that geologists will tell you the water has been running beautifully for thousands of years, and that we foresaw no problems."

Lynch said the Jack Daniel's facility often uses Cave Spring water in winter and spring for everything, including cleaning rather than buying water from the city of Lynchburg. However, he said, the company does buy city water for non-whiskey purposes in autumn and summer.

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