Why it's Old No. 7 in a Square Bottle?
The very look of Jack Daniel’s has taken on a life of its own. It’s iconic, and Brown-Forman is well known for taking anyone who so much as skirts the look of a bottle of JD Old No. 7 to court. That look and label have become the font of a clutch of stories, some intertwined with the man Jack Daniel and some with his whiskey.
The company began bottling its own whiskey in 1895 (this was a quarter century after George Garvin Brown, founder of parent company Brown-Forman, made Old Forester the first bourbon sold bottled by its maker, rather than the retailer). There are examples of rounded clear glass jugs and bottles that predate the now familiar rigidly defined, squared bottle styling, and there are two official explanations as to why the bottle is squared. The practical version is the squared shape was chosen because it was more stable in the packing and shipping of the day. The colorful version is that it was the last design shown to Daniel, who chose it saying, “A square bottle for a square shooter.” My personal favorite is very much unofficial: “It’s square so it don’t roll off the passenger’s seat while you’re driving.”
I sometimes wish there were only seven theories as to how the core Jack Daniel’s whiskey came to be called “Old No. 7.” The consensus story among the experts, including Blood and Whiskey author Peter Krass, is that Daniel was incensed when the state of Tennessee changed his distillery registration number from 7 to 16 in a tax district reorganization. Worse, his was the only number so changed. That registration number was required to be on the label, so he emblazoned it with “Old No. 7” to head off any confusion.
The official historian, Nelson Eddy, is dubious about that explanation. “He had his name on these things, so why use the number seven to promote it?”
Eddy also dismissed the explanation that Daniel was a short king and a ladies man, and the code refers to his seven girlfriends. . . but says if it were true, it would explain why he never married.
Another explanation I heard is that Jack Daniel named it No. 7 because he started branding it as such in 1887, had to put something on there, and took that last number of the year. It’s also been said he tried several mash recipes, but the seventh one turned out to be the one chosen. Or that seven was inside the barrel head on a honey barrel he shipped to a client, who then asked for more of that number seven. Similar is the tale of seven barrels being shipped down to Tullahoma, reported lost, and then found again with the replacements en route, so the originals were marked “Old No. 7.” The one I firmly discount is that the brand was named after seven barrels that were sent to the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, which obviously isn’t true because it was already being called Old No. 7 by then. The simplest is it’s named for the lucky number seven.
This bit of brand identity has no official explanation, but the one I find most interesting is the one that comes from within the family. The Motlows were known to tell people that Jack used to have a friend and customer who owned seven pharmacies, and at the time he thought that owning that many pharmacies was the pinnacle of success.
Regardless, we’ll never know for sure why the bottle and the labeling were chosen. That is why these physical features make for such good bar stories and debates to this day. After all, you can see them in just about every bar on the planet.
Taken from Whiskey Stories: The True Spirit Behind the Labels by Richard Thomas
Whiskey expert Richard Thomas offers an enthralling expedition into the heart of whiskey's heritage, unfolding the rich tapestry of intrigue, innovation, and tradition that defines this storied spirit. From its ancient origins to its position today as a globally celebrated elixir, this book is a tribute to the distillers, dreamers, and dram lovers who have all played their part in shaping whiskey's legacy.